Incomperta Voluntatis
by LongShotl
Summary: Following the Anti-Monitor's defeat and the Red Lantern Corps Rise, the excitement of Frontier Space has almost been forgotten. The trials of the Alpha Lantern project has also ceased, and a few months after the Green Lantern failure, a renegade Alpha ring finds itself a new host; the Interceptor crew takes the opportunity to channel the Alpha energy into a hero before its too late
1. New

"Now try a simple construct. Personally speaking, I found that its easy to start with making things that mean something to you… take a swing at that." The teacher smiles at his padawan, as he affectionately calls her, as she lands to try and make something. She did well with the concept of levitation, but Hal had yet to see her try and create something with the ring on her hand.

Roughly, she plants her feet on the surface of the Colorado ridge, sways to find her balance, and breathes slowly. Kieran opens her eyes, smiles and thrust her hand forward in a fist, willing the energy deep within her to come into existence. Nothing happens.

She draws back, a frown on her face, and tries again. Sweat starts to drip down her brow in the heat, but she tries again and again. After only knowing her for about twenty four hours, Hal Jordan could easily tell why she had been gifted a Green Lantern ring – the guardians choose well, despite her evidently young age.

But her frustration gets the best of her. After ten minutes of coaxing the energy into shape, she roars and tries to make something appear, but instead creates a plasma blast of vivid color; the kinetic energy surges from her body, and she teeters back over the edge.

Quickly diving over the edge, Hal locks his eyes with his student. She is flailing, falling, and screaming, completely out of control. "Hold on, kiddo!" he calls, and launches a baseball mit to cradle the girl.

"I'm so sorry," Kieran musters, looking away. She brushes her black hair out of her eyes, and her chin starts to give in.

"Hey, kiddo, Kieran, breath. Its all good!" he lowers them both to the ground and places both hands on her shoulders. "I have no idea why you're all upset! Everything is ok! All we need to do is relax, that's all." He hushes her as she releases a single tear, and rips from his grasp. Kieran curls up on the ground, arms around her legs. Hal sighs, since he's been around the block before, and sits down behind her, propping himself against a large, warm stone.

She regains control of her breathing and lets out a single, painful sigh. "I'm not meant to be here," she dares to challenge, as if she's trying to convince someone of her previously-decided fate. "I should be at home, caring for Mels. I should be picking up the bottles across the living room, cleaning out the cigar ashes. I should be holding Mel and helping her with her homework. I mean, its second grade, so it doesn't count for much, but she's got me, so she shouldn't have to grow up like me, right?"

"You're right, she needs you." Hal closes his eyes, allowing the words to sink into his student. "But you can't help her if you can't be yourself; you can't help anyone if you aren't caring for yourself."

"Then how is this supposed to help _me_?!" She shouts over her shoulder, head sideways to see Hal relaxing in the summer heat. "How are you supposed to help me? How am I supposed to help _anyone_? The person who had this last… they died. They were a brother somewhere, somewhere… from _another_ _planet_. You said he was an amazing man. I can't be him. I can't be anything. I'm the child of two alcoholics. I'm the younger sister of a brother who killed himself. But I'm still a sister and a student and a cashier and a person, and… hell, I'm only human." She rotates around to stare at Hal. He's looking wistfully up at the sky; a cloud has finally appeared.

She did have a point. Hraalkar _was_ dead. He was as dead as the older brother who killed himself two years earlier, whom Kieran confessed to Hal was her savoir.

And for some reason, Hraalkar's Alpha Lantern Corps ring flew halfway across the galaxy to this seventeen year old.

It flew across the find her, all while being chased by a rouge Vice, and crashed into her as she walked home from school with her little sister. As Vice charged only minutes after the ring, Hal was able to intercept it him and was able to convince the Red Lantern member to back off before he was hung from a tree. A few punches here and there led to his departure. Kieran, engulfed in complete confusion, stood up with her ring on a tight fist and defied the beast – she dealt the final blow and sent Vice blazing a new skid mark across the sky. Then she cried, cause this kind of thing didn't happen left and right. Mels, on the other hand, was more than curious.

But the ring came to her… and an idea came to Hal.

"I have an idea," The teacher muses, standing up and walking around to face his student. "We need a break." She looks up at him through teary eyes and messy hair. "These mountains are starting to cave in around me," he offers with a smile and a lowered hand. "Feel like going on an adventure?"

A pause. Hesitantly, Kieran takes his hand, and he gently starts to carry her above and beyond her wildest imaginations. "Where are we going?" She weakly flusters, brushing her locks out of the way so she could look at the planet they were leaving behind. Jordan smiles at her. "I have an old friend who's got a lot of… expertise in rocky situations. I think you'll be able to learn a lot from him. We have to get through Aya first."

"Aya?"

"His wife. She's a little hormonal at the moment. Once that kid comes out though, she'll be back to her old self."

"Should I be scared? Will I be home in time to make dinner? Will I-"

"We'll figure this out, kiddo," he promises, surging forward and through the stars. "I promise, we'll find a way to make you get home in time to be the hero you are. I promise."


	2. Starburst

"Wait, where are we going exactly?" Kieran asks her teacher, clasping harder onto him as they soar across the sky. She's almost completely recovered from her momentary breakdown, but dry tears are now on her cheeks. Evenso, Hal notices proudly that his padawan is looking forward and an eager glint sparkles in her eyes… even if its behind her young years of despair.

"Well, Odym's fairly far away, so-"

"Od-ime. A planet, right?"

"Good call kiddo," Hal smiles and surges farther. They're about 1/3 of the way to their destination. "Odym lives fairly far from here, and even at my top speed we wont be able to arrive for quite a while."

"How long is 'quite a while' for people who travel at the speed of light?"

"About a three-month journey." He chuckles a little at her expression – its somewhere between completely confused, completely surprised, startled out of her socks, and in awe. "We'll start off with a pit-stop at another place; I'm actually surprised you weren't taken here automatically." He slows his speed and meets Kieran's eye. "Okay, you'll hate me for a little while, but I'm going to let you go. On five. Ready? One-"

"WAITOHMYGODWHATTHE-" "Two-"

"DON'TIGETASAYINTHIS-"

"Three- oh whoops, I lied." She pushes from his broad chest as he releases his gentle grip and Kieran springs backwards about three yards in empty space. Her personal shield level emits a beautifully vivid shade of green, and she looks at him crossly. "What on Earth are you thinking?"

"On Oa, if they see me carrying you in, you'll be the laughing stock of the entire orbit for about as long as I was. You'll thank me later. Now," he muses, moving away from her slightly, "try flying at me a little."

Kieran is silent for a moment as she licks her lips and curls her hands tightly. Releasing a quaky breath, she tries to move. And nothing happens. She opens her eyes in confusion. Hal smiles. "Try what Superman does – that's how I started off."

She eyes him as if it's a joke, but hesitantly sticks out her left hand and meanders about a foot closer to Hal. In aspiration, she laughs and spins slightly, looking around in awe and taking in her surroundings with a newfound curiosity. "I am flying," she laughs, "in space." She looks at him with a beautifully gigantic smile. "I'm flying in space!" Hal starts to fly slowly backwards, his ring willing him the directions to Oa. "I know right? Magical, isn't it? However, we still have to get to HQ before we start doing anything. Com'on, padawan."

The two humans drift through space slowly at first, Kieran starting to explore her newest strength by spinning, twirling, laughing, and zigzagging. Then she gets serious and picks up speed. Hal matches hers and teases his student a little by inching ahead. She meets his eye with a daunting look and wills herself to be faster. The burst of speed catches them both by surprise, and they speed towards the home of the Guardians.

They're both laughing now, just in the joy of existence. "Com'on, rookie!" Hal challenges, his voice a little louder than a yell to hear through the adrenaline pounding his ears. "Show me what you've got!" he races ahead, his infamous speed leaving his student in the dust.

And for a moment, Kieran simply watches him blaze ahead. She slows down and takes in the universe around her. She looks behind for a shadow of Earth. It is not there.

The moment passes in a few simple heartbeats, but they are heartbeats Kieran shall never forget. A daring smile flickers across her face, and with the power of an Alpha Corps ring, she ignites and speeds towards her mentor.

It's a speed that got Hraalkar to save about sixty civilians from a detonation. It's the speed that lead the way to battle on the frontier of the Alpha Corps, and it was a speed that was too vast, too strong, for a young woman like Kieran to control.

After about eight seconds of entering hyper speed, Kieran got caught in the gravitational pull of a star six times the size of Earth's. Sound was all but absent as she started to fall to its magnificent force.

Hal noticed the emerald star shoot past him about four seconds after leaving Kieran behind. "Shit," he curses and begs himself to poor on more speed. His will abides by his wishes, but his body starts to crumble apart in fatigue.

He can see the faint outline of his padawan in the brilliant heat of the star, and it begins to weaken. "Shitshitshitshit," he growls, getting louder and louder by the moment. _If anything happens to her…._

A bulky shadow grazes across Hal line of vision, and he breathes in relief as he knows who it is.

"That your kid, hotshot?" Kilowog questions as he gestures to the girl fighting against nature's most brutal force. "Put it aside Sargent," Hal hisses, brows furrowed and eyes on the girl, "_I_ will not let anything get that girl."

"You mean, _we_."

That's a star," Kieran muses quietly out loud, falling to her emanate doom. Heat washes over her in waves as it the beautiful radiation engulfs her.

And for a second, she closes her eyes and inhales – it doesn't take a trained Lantern to know what she had gotten herself into. Evenso, the heat brushing her body was as gentle and caressing as a summer day with a mother holding her close.

A dream finally come true.

Kieran can't hear the sound of Hal frantically calling her form his ring, she can't hear him trying to get closer to her. She hears the waves of eruptions of nuclear power on the star and sees its brilliance. But she furrows her brows as she basks in her momentary dream. A voice enters her mind from the darkest corner of her heart. It is gentle but strong, assertive yet loving.

_Not today _Jared rasps in her. _No_, she agrees, _not today._

Her mind starts swirling with panic and fear, but she closes that door and forces different thoughts to occupy her mind. Not _today. Not today. Not_ today…

"NOT TODAY" she powers, an idea born fresh in her mind. Fist out in a way Clark Kent would be proud of, she accelerates towards the surface of the nuclear reaction in space.

"Kieran!" Hal shouts, trying to get closer. He and Kilowog inch forward as time stands still. At one of the last possible moments, Kieran swerves from her many years of lacrosse practice, and pivots, crashing in a new direction – she starts flying around the star. "Would you look at that," Kilowog muses, "The kids bright."

Now close enough to protect his student, Hal turns around to face the sergeant. "Hold me, you oaf!" Kilowog sends an aggressive clamp around his friend and partner of the frontier, and he inches closer and closer into the pull of the sun.

Imagine having the life being sucked out from underneath you, a force so strong that your skin could rip right off. No see yourself 1000 leagues under the ocean, with a pressure caving down upon you in such an unbearable ton that your spin begs to be broken in half; and, throw between those two jaw-tearing amounts of pressure a spider web, casted together by the sheer will to survive another day.

The power is enough to rip a spaceshuttle in half, enough to make any creature scream under the pressure. A thousand oceans lie above their heads as they sink deeper and deeper into the darkness of nature's most brutal, bright force in the galaxy.

And Kieran doesn't mind. She picks up speed, chanting to herself what her brother lived by. She sees the light of Hal in the corner of her eye and finds the perfect moment. Like a pitcher winding up, she thrusts herself in his direction as she orbits the nuclear object. And the speed she accumulated isn't enough; she starts to sink deeper into the hold of the star.

Death consumes her. The opportunity to let everything go washes over her like a warm bubble bath, toes sticking up in the air and nose above water.

And Kieran realizes that life is about keeping your nose up, no matter the challenge. Her mind flashes across the numerous memories of her drunk parents throwing her around, walking into the living room one day to find her brother's cold body – _life is about trying even in the darkness of death._

The Alpha Lantern Corp ring comes to life;_ …In Days of Peace…_

The human girl_ -…In Nights of War…-_ becomes a torch, and with only a half-mile between her_ -…Obey the Laws Forevermore…-_ and the face of her death, she explodes with speed. _-…Misconduct Must be Answered For…-_

The strength she lacked bursts from her lungs "_-…Swear Us the Chosen…-"_

_"I AM the ALPHA CORPS!"_

_Welcome to the Alpha Lantern Corp, _whispers the ring on her hand.

She propels about a mile a second, yet slow enough for Hal to reach out a crane's extension to grab her. With Kilowog's help, the two men pull the girl safely from the star's death grip.

Hal pulls her in close, hugging her in fury. "Don't you dare scare me like that again!" He releases his grip, which is just as tight as the star's, and wags a finger at his padawan's face. "You scared me half to death!"

Despite facing a possible extinction three times in the last day, she smiles and brushes her hair to the side. "K Boss. You have to admit though, that was kinda cool." She eyes Kilowog, since he's the first alien she's encountered since being attacked by Vice. Her breath is heavy, her body is weak, but her will has enough fuel to empower an armada. Kieran meets his eyes and offers a weary smile, breathing heavily.

Kilowog grunts and starts to turn away; even though he doesn't know her (yet), the near-death scared him something awful too. "This kid yours, Jordan? She's got enough hot blood in her human head to drive any sane being nuts." He starts making his way to Oa, and Hal stays back to grip Kieran's arm urgently. "I'm proud of you, you handled that very, very well. Do you need a break? Are you okay to head to Oa? Its like a high school parking lot in there."

She smiles. "Mr. Hal Jordan, I was born ready."


	3. Assigned

The three find their way to the entrance of the judgment center, and Kieran is just as taken away by the architecture as she was flying around the planet-base of the Lantern Corps.

Not everyone has a planet in their backyard for a tree house.

Kilowog couldn't help but notice how her face was stuck in between awe, fascination, and fear. "You think this is impressive, Poozer? Wait till ya see some of the other planets out ther'." Hal smiles, "You'll definitely like the Star Sapphires, the Zamarans'll adore you!" Kilowog and Hal pause just outside of the entrance. Kieran looks around them to see what is inside. "What's with the hold up? I want to meet my boss. Or bosses, or whatever."

"Not that easy kiddo," Hal says gently. Kilowog snorts. "You've got a few strikes against ya' already, for being in this guys shadow," he jerks a thumb at Hal, "Plus u'r human. So," He clasps his hands together and looks at her seriously. "You wanna be a lantern, right? It ain't no easy stroll through the star systems, kid. Only speak when spoken to, answer directly, and do not - absolutely, do not! - get sassy. Get me?"

Kieran nods and brushes past the men. In a vast hallway (one of the many) the three of them are greeted by Salaak.

The multi-armed man barely looks up at them, he's too busy typing away at something unreadable to really even pretend he cares.

Then he saw Kieran.

"This lantern," he says, pausing to get a long look at her. He furrows his brow, if that is even possible, "has it been induced? I do not recognize her."

"No, not yet. We've got an issue though." "Indeed you do, Lantern Jordan. Why is she wearing Alpha Corps energy? That is awful peculiar."

Kieran doesn't really seem to notice that he's questioning the value of her existence. She also seems to have forgotten what her companions said to her. Instead, she smiles and sticks out a dainty hand. "Might I say mister, you are really… really… something special! Where are you from? Do all of your people look like you?" Her head is on a swivel, absorbing everything she can. "What do you do here? Are you one of the guardians? How many hands do you have?" Salaak and Kilowog look at her extended palm in confusion. Kieran pulls it back slowly, looking at Hal. "How do you greet people out here?" she asks weakly.

Salaak smiles slightly at her innocence and grips it with a single extension. "Young, too, aren't you?" He releases her hand, peering deep into her face. He stops typing with his other arms and folds them in an array of ways, getting himself comfortable. "Something special is with you, little human. If you are anything like the other humans to walk these halls, I have the feeling you will be trouble." He winks, "I do not mind though. Keeps an old geezer like me on his toes. To answer your questions, I am from Slyggia, no, I organize, no, and four." His floating pedestal blinks at him, and he turns back to it. "Looks like the guardians have accepted your presence. They even pushed a few things around to talk to you now." Salaak begins typing furiously again and drifts backwards. "Follow me, if you please."

Kilowog punches her in the shoulder - friendly, but aggressive - as he marches past with Jordan. "What did I just tell ya?"

They arrive at the doorway. Salaak, instead of staying behind like he usually does, sees the confusion cross both men's faces. "This case interests me," he reasons, making them turn toward him; Kilowog and Hal often forget how intuitive Salaak is. He nods at Kieran. "Besides, Hraaklar was one I actually did not mind." Kieran shudders, and Salaak curtly notices this too. "Fret not child." She turns to him, hoping for some sign of encouragement. "The worse they can do is make you into a machine here and now. I have not experienced it, but my understanding is that it is not too painful."

The door slides open, Kieran freezes. Hal gently places a hand on her back, but she jumps. "Its alright kiddo, I won't let them get to my padawan." He guides her in, followed by Kilowog and Salaak.

Nothing is heard. Even her heart seems to fall to the intensity of the stillness. The door slides shut behind her, making the girl jump again.

She peers into the heavens, looking for her boss/es. Unsure of what to expect at this point, she almost laughs out loud when she sees the small blue people on the pedestals above her. An icy glare pierces her soul from the one in the center, and he clears his voice.

"Child, please step forward. This is a trial for the accused, of whom is -"

"Wait, a trial? what is she being accused of? This kid ain't done nothin'!"

Appa Ali Apsa bellows from his monotone voice box, his glare being shot at the Sargent. "Lantern 674, watch your tone." He redirects at Kieran. "Human, you were induced into the Green Lantern Corps approximately two of your solar cycles ago, is this correct?"

Kieran shifts her weight - she can't stand them all staring at her! Looking at her feet, she replies. "Y-y-yes sir, your honor sir."

"You will address me by my correct title, am I understood 2814?"

"Yes sir, Mr. Guardian."

The blue man rolls his eyes. "upon induction, you were automatically recorded in the Book of Oa-"

"think, 'giant textbook of freaking everything that ever happened," Hal clarified behind his hand.

"- As a member of the Alpha Lanterns. Explain yourself."

"I-I-I… I'm not too sure, Mr. Guardian sir," her voice cracks in growing fear, "I just got it and I'm here now. Can't we… uh, rewrite the book…. or something? Erase a line or two?"

"Beyond the immediate status given to her, this human is much too young; we have an age limit installed for a reason. How do you explain yourself?"

"Look, guys," Hal steps forward, arms outstretched, "She's just a kid, you've got that part right. she didn't sabotage any book, she didn't kill any lantern, but she definitely has the spark needed to be a lantern. If you ask me, it's a weird situation all right, but it is something that we can't define - not yet. Give her the opportunity to learn, let her be taught, test her then and see what comes out of it."

"as usual 2814, your input is not wanted. Another matter to be brought to hand; if we accept this _child_ into our ranks, we must convert her into one of the standard machinery."

"If I may concur," Salaak slides forward. you can tell he is curious. "I am as surprised by this child's presence as you all are, but I must agree to Honor Guard Jordan's suggestion. Allow this abnormally to attempt to learn our ways, you have nothing to lose." He waves a hand at Kilowog. "Sargent Kilowog has never trained one incorrectly, and he has more than enough experience handling a human. If it dies, so be it, another stronger and better fit lantern will rise, no offense" He looks over his shoulder to peek at the girl, "But no harm will come out of simply permitting an attempt."

Her blood boils, her heart leaps to her throat. Claws rake down the spine of her pride, but she knows her place. Kieran stands and allows the verbal blows to render her invaluable. However, she does notice a shift from Salaak and he catches her attention.

Is that a pair of crossed fingers? Was that a wink?

two of the collected small blue people nod in agreement, but submit to the one apparently in charge of this circus. Appa opens his mouth but is interrupted by the explosive entrance of a new monstrosity.

his ears are as sharp as his tongue, his skin red with the blisters of a harsh lifestyle and the natural gleam of his people. Short, black hair drapes over his head and is conducted by a moustache that could stab you.

His name is Thaal Sinestro. he is trouble personified…. like Hal, just more intimidating.

"Guardians, pardon my interruption." He bows slightly after he pushes his way into the center of their attention. Kieran, glad to not be stared at, backs up willingly into Kilowog.

"Lantern 1417. Why do you interrupt this private trial assessment?"

"Because Atrocitus has broken from his bonds."

"WHAT?" Appa Ali Apsa roars, arms flung straight out, his brow creasing deep into the pores of his soul. He recollects himself and scuffs. "Impossible."

"Sir, he has broken free, his bloody minions attacked our base and set him free."

"How did this happen? Why was I not informed of this?"

"Information was cut off as you requested, Guardian, so no one would be able to hear excess sounds from these chambers."

Appa folds his arms into the sleeves of his robe with the red hands of guilt.

"Wait, what?" Hal turns to Salaak. "He canceled the stream just so he could break the kid? Because she's Alpha? That sounds illegal to me." Hal Jordan crosses his arms and matches Sinestro.

"2814, watch your tone! The council agreed that whatever took place due to the child would be classified."

"I will not watch my tone! Atrocitus is out there, loose! Do you remember how awful it was trying to put him in his cage?"

Hal rants and rambles, growing louder and louder by the moment. Kieran, though, crumbles; she strokes her arms and bows her head. Kilowog notices this and places his large hands on either side of the girl. "Easy kiddo, it ain't your fault."

"Isn't it?" she whispers back. The Bolvaxian grunts and squeezes her in reassurement. "it isn't somethin' to fuss over, the universe just got a whole lot bigger. Chin up, Poozer." The leave the gentle words behind and concentrate on the matter at hand.

Kieran sniffles slightly; the room feels remarkably colder. "Who's Atroticus?"

"You'll find out soon'nough."

Sinestro barks loudly over the roar being thrown between Hal and Appa.

"Guardians, may I humbly request-"

"No, you may not Thaal Sinestro of Korugar."

The red-skinned man opens his mouth to release a snarky comment, but shuts his eyes, closes his fists, and backs off. He bows a bow not of humble gratitude, but of unmaskable, indescribable emotion. "Of course, pardon my interruption."

and he leaves - his departure allowed Kieran to release a single, shaky breath that she didn't know she was holding in. she glances at Hal, who seems to have done the same thing - Kilowog, on the other hand, just seems relieved that the devil-ish man had departed. he sticks his nose up in the air in an I-told-you-so manner. The Sergeant grunts as Sinestro exits hearing range and turns to Jordan. "I've said it before and I'll say it again. I don' like him. Any lantern with… eyes like that," He curls his fingers around his eyes, like when a child is imitating binoculars or an owl, "…You know he's trouble!" The guardians refocus on the remaining people before them. Kieran feels the iron-strong, ice-cold glares of them all pierce her body; she shrivels slightly before them before straightening her back and meets the eyes of the one in the center.

"Due to their expertise in Frontier Space, I believe we should send 674 and 2814 back out."

"No. we should call in those we already have out there and make them redirect their efforts at quenching the Red Lantern threat."

As the small people contemplate what to do, the one in the center raises a hand; despite a lack of hair, he appears to be the leader of them. the conference room falls silent and he delivers his judgment.

"As unfortunate as it is to say so," he folds his arm back into his red sleeve, "Hal Jordan of Earth and Sergeant Kilowog of Bolaxia do indeed have more experience than the others in handling Atrocitus's hotheadedness."

"It takes one to know one," Hal mumbles with a rebellious wink at Kieran. she smiles and dips her head, praying that her new bosses don't see her smile. then again, was he saying that the Guardian was the hotheaded one… or he himself was?

The man continues, "The two of them will make their way to Frontier Space to explore the possible threats and to excavate possible leads." He points a stubby, fierce, angry finger at the human. "Mark my words, Jordan. If you as much as step off of the directions I gave you, you will be dealt with in the most accurate of manners. Do you hear me?"

Hal smiles. "Thanks you guys, you're the best."

"How'r we gonna get out there?" Kilowog asks, stepping closer and his arms outstretched at his sides. "We can't get their on the sheer speed o' our rings alone."

"You shall receive the moc Eight to pilot on your journey," says the female to Appa's left.

"So be it," growls the blue man. with a mock bow, Hal and Kilowog start to walk away, leaving Kieran in complete confusion.

"Uh, wait, uh, please," she begs, voice cracking and moving from her statue stance. Everyone turns back to her. "If Mr. Kilowog's out of here, what about me? Do I get any training? What about being… and… 'alpha'?"

"Lets bring the kid along," Hal suggests, stepping back closer and throwing an arm around her shoulders. she shrugs it off, trying to show that she is serious. Am I actually going to the farthest corners of space? "She could use the opportunity to see what she's protecting, Kilowog here'll start her on some laps, we'll have her talk with a few lanterns out there -" "Note that he ain't sayin' what color lanterns," Kilowog mumbles, coming onto Kieran's other side.

"-it'll be a piece of cake! there's no time like the present to learn how to run before… what… I'm getting my metaphors mixed up."

"There's no time like the present is different from you gotta learn to run before you can walk."

"Bottom line is, same thing. Whatta say?"

The Guardians exchange glances before the center one sighs and drops his little arms. "Very well, Alpha Corps replacement member 743 will join you. I have high expectations from you," he says, turning his cold glare back to Kieran. this time, though, she doesn't flinch. "Alpha Corp member 743 was one of our greatest. If you were selected in his place, you must do well. You have your orders," he says, looking back at the men, "take your leave. May your will empower the night to come. "

The three head out.


	4. The Call

"You're gonna love this place, kiddo," Hal reassures as they fly away from the judgment center. "Stars all around you, nothing but space. It's kinda like sittin the middle of a lake, fishing or something. Have you ever gone fishing before? I have to say, Costal City is really-"

"Hal, please stop." The two experienced Lanterns drop their speed and turn around to face the girl. she's nervously toying with her hair, eyes down. "This is a... huge honor. no words can describe what the last day has been like," she looks up, her face drawing a blank. "But this, all of this?" she uncurls her arms lets them rest in frustration on her side, "A monster? Planets at risk? entire families - no, societies - at risk? this is too much."

Kilowog looks at Jordan, neither of them totally sure about how to work around this. Kilowog, like a kicked puppy, has his stumpy ears down against his head in defeat. He drifts towards the girl in expertise; mind you, he was a father once.

"Look, Kiri'n, it ain't gonna be easy, but you need to see that whateva led to you being here, it happened for a reason. Alphas don' drop left and right easily." he prods her chest gently to prove a point. "What you got in 'ere. that's that got you so far from home. its also what keeps home close to ya', ya' get what I'm sayin'?"

"But I am needed at home," she says in frustration, whipping his hand away, "My sister needs me. I have school, I have a job-"

"That's all what you have because you need to, kiddo." Hal meanders closer, arms across his chest. "When was the last time you did something just because you wanted to?"

"What I want is... it.. it doesn't matter." Kieran faces the two of them defiantly, but something inside of her doesn't agree; anyone in the same star system could see it. "What I want means nothing! A killer is out there! And you know what? He wouldn't be free right now if I didn't happen! if none of this happened!"

Chaselon drifts towards the three of them in the festering silence. "Honor Guard Jordan, Sargent Kilowog, and, uh," the newcomer scratches at its head (and body, if you think about it) trying to figure out what to address the girl as.

"Kieran," she says, eyeing the silicon-based creature in anger. However, the anger quickly melts into curiosity as she takes in what he is. She drifts closer to get a better look, and Chaselon blushes under the coating.

"Um, yes, Lantern Kieran too. The Moc Eight is ready for your departure. We just installed a new communications system, too. May I say, its great to see you two again, fellow lanterns. how is the IA faring? Are you taking the Moc Eight to-"

"That's one reason," Hal says sharply cutting off the chatty creature. "We've got business in Frontier Space to address." The man turns back to his padawan. "We'll take the ship to get you back home. take us to her, Chase."

Everyone is surprised - did Hal really just give in to someone? Kir breathes out and rubs her arm as they turn to follow the engineer lantern to the docking bay.

The ship is magnificent, to say the very least. Sleek and aerodynamic, yet big and obviously capable of packing a punch. it sleeps peacefully alongside about fifty other aircraft, all designed in a similar manner, but their dreams are made of nightmares for those against the law. Once inside, Kieran takes in a few moments to absorb the new world around her. As she peers into the crevice of a medical hamper, a levitating box appears out of nowhere. Like literally, it appears out of nowhere and about a foot from her face. "GREETINGS, I am LANOS, the Lightspeed Astronautical Navigation Operated System. What may I do for you?"

Kieran yips and leaps back, not expecting that to happen. She turns to the others in disbelief and guilty denial before being filled with awe. she extends a hand to touch the box, and her hand passes right through.

"Weird," she mumbles.

"New designation accepted - WEIRD." the monotone voice echoes across Kieran's mind, making her giggle.

"Lanos, deny that name," Kilowog grumbles, "And prepare for departure."

"Duty accepted." The box vanishes as quickly as it appeared. Hal smiles as he floods with memories of Artificial Intelligences. He turns to Kilowog. "Why'd they keep that name, Lanos, anyway?"

Kilowog grunts, "its a reliable program, Jordan, unlike some we have experience with."

"Well anywho, thanks for the tour Chaselon, but we've got it from here. good to see you again."

"You too, Honor Guard Lantern Hal Jordan! May I say I look forward to our every get-together. You age very well, and it pleases me to see that -"

"Yeah, great," Hal replies over his shoulder, grabbing Kieran by the arm and dragging her away from the medical bay. "See ya another time, pal." Kilowog takes the rear, scooting the three of them across the main hallway and into the control room.

"Oh wow," Kieran whispers, head on a swivel and eyes lighting up. Lights beam and buttons glow, Lanterns mill around outside of the sweeping front window, bright, glistening white walls encase the dreams of flight. She can't help but think of a surround-sound, IMAX movie feature.

The universe suddenly feels very small, very possible.

"It is pretty awesome, isn't it? I remember being on my first ship. No matter how hard they try, the guardians will never be able to recreate the Interceptor." He smiles wistfully and starts punching buttons. "Do you want to call home first?"

"Um, yeah," Kieran replies, pausing from her examination deep within herself. In her every pore, in the creak of her bone, she knows; she knows that justice and exploration is her calling. Kieran just can't accept the fairy tale. She hesitates, and that moment of stillness is all Hal needed to know - I've got in the bag.

"Lanos, manual controls please." a steering wheel appears in Hals hands and, as if he was born to do it, the human gently flies the beast out of the belly of the lantern corps (He didn't really give warning to the lanterns outside - they got a shout or two from the people in the bay). Kilowog takes a seat and starts to crack away at some system of a sort, leaving Kieran to take her own seat and explore the possibilities.

Hal interrupts her thoughts. "Hey kiddo, it looks like we'll have to have the phone call in surround sound, cause that's the only setting this bucket of bolts has. Is that ok with you?"

"Uh, yeah, sure." Nothing to hide, right?

The drill of a phone picks up, and Kieran whips around in astonishment - how does Jordan know her house's phone number? He winks in his all-knowing way and leans back in his chair, arms folded behind his head.

"Hello?" a weak, small voice answers. It cracks in fear but curiosity.

"Oh Mels," Kieran whispers. she coughs to clear her throat and to stop the tears from rising, "I've missed you little sis. Its Sissy."

"Sissy! Are you still on your adventure?"

Kieran laughs; oh, the stories she could tell her baby sister! "Yes, I'm still on my adventure. Listen Mels, how's home?"

"Its fiiinnnnneeee. I like it better when you're here."

"And mom and dad?"

"Sleeping. They smell bad."

"Oh," Kieran replies, not too surprised, but gently mad. Kieran swings her legs in the levitating chair. "Listen, Mels, I'm going to come home soon, ok? It'll be better once-"

"No you're not."

Kieran furrows her brows, wiping at a small tear. "Mels, look."

"No. You never smile ever anymore. You smiled when leaving for your adventure. I want you to stay." she perks up, as if she straightened her rapid thoughts. "Is Mr. Hordan there?"

Hal laughs and leans forward. "Hey kiddo, how's my favorite sidekick?" She giggles and gets loud. "Mr. Hordan, plllleeassseeee keep my sissy on your adventure, please please please."

"Alright kid, you win," Hal reassures, looking at Kilowog with a knowing glance. Kieran stares at the stars beyond the window with no palpable emotions detectable. She sighs and shakes her head.

"Melanie, you don't understand what you are saying. I'm coming home and we'll work on your math tonight, okay?"

"No. I'm not gonna let you in the door."

"Dammit Mels you don't get it! This is not something you can control!"

A sniffle is on the other line. Kieran automatically drops her face. "Oh Sis I'm so sorry, I didn't mean that, i-i-i, I just-"

"I can't control it, but you can," Mels replies. A silence drifts across the hall of the ship, even Kilowog has stopped his rapid-fire button pushing, "go adventa Sissy."

Melanie hangs up.

Kieran stares in shock at the universe five yards from her. "Did she really just hang up on me?" Kieran questions, spinning around to face Hal. Kilowog grunts. "Sounds like u'r sister alright."

Hal shrugs back at her. "Looks like it. She has a point, though, kiddo. This is good for you. She has everything in control back at your place."

Kieran laughs. "She's always had things in the bag," she muses, wiping at the crevice of her eye, "but it's the fact that she's so young. I never like leaving it all to her to do." She breathes.

"Where do we go from here?" Hal asks, leaning forward. Lanos appears, ready to bellow a response, but Hal mutes him (its a beautiful button that was recently installed. Really, it's a beauty).

The Alpha-induced lantern Kieran stands up. "We go to O'dym."

Jordan nods. "We'll take about eight hours to get there. Go ahead and claim a quarter as your own, take a chill pill. You've had quite the day."

"And plenty more excitement to come," Kilowog offers, spinning his chair to face the two, "We got a potential Red Lan'turn threat burstin' at the seams, and Aya's drivin Red crazy. I hope you can work your magic with that kid o' hers, girl. He's a handful."

She smiles. "Finally, kids. That's a universe I know all too well."


	5. SALUTATIONS

According to Hal, the trip was going to be a mildly long one. "Take a chill pill," he reassures again, "We're taking a detour anyway. I'll be sure to send in Kilowog - with a hula skirt of course - when we reach our vacation lot." Kilowog, knowing only that the comment was meant to be insulting in some way, huffs disapproval. "We ain't relaxin when we get there kid." He warns. "You're gonna get a training you ain't forgetting anytime soon."

Fabulous, just fabulous.

The resting rooms onboard are snug, cozy, and simple. The walls are as white at the ship's main deck, and streaks of green coarse across. A bed sits in the corner, welcoming her tired body, but Kieran's mind is too alive to sleep. Not yet, at least.

"Uh, Lanos?"

"Greetings and salutations!"

"Lanos, what can you do?" Kieran sits gently on the corner of the bed, feeling it for how soft it was. The surface is tense, but the material inside is more plush than the cots at home.

Beggars can't be choosers anyway.

"I am capable of providing information on a wide scale of knowledge and in many languages! I am capable of conveying the information about the ship! I am capable of controlling some features of the ship but not all since Honor Guard Lantern Hal, my pilot, overrode my controls 3.42 minutes ago! I am -"

"Thanks Lanos." Kieran interrupts, automatically feeling guilty. she lies down on the cot. "Oh, sorry to interrupt."

"As I am the ship's artificial intelligence, I am present to do as you command!"

"Can you do me a favor, Lanos?"

"Tell me to do anything, Alpha Lantern Kieran of Earth!"

"Call me Kiri. Thats what friends do. Do you have a nickname? Can you, uh, look up the lantern who was before me?"

"Indeed, information streaming at your request. The only designations I have received are LANOS, Lightspeed Astronautical Navigation Operated System, and weird, which was denied! Do you require more information, or would you like me to read you the biography of Alpha Lantern Hraaklar?"

"Tell me about Atrocitus."

"Indeed: information streaming at your request. Would you-"

"And the universe. And Odym. And the Red Lanterns. And lantern Thaal Sinestro. And Saalak."

"Indeed, information streaming at your request. Would you-"

"And Razer. And Aya, I think that's her name. Plus Kilowog. I don't really know him and he seems like Hal's brother but he kinda creeps me out. Does he creep you out?"

"Command not received. Would you like me to search for "does he creep you out" in the Lantern Databases?"

"No, that's all I think." Kieran lies on her back with her ringed hand in the air, admiring it. She turns a little towards the box. "Lanos, what makes someone a Green Lantern?"

"Green Lanterns are chosen through a process to which the ones with the strongest sense of internal willpower thrives and they have the moral strength to stand in the face of fear!"

"What does that book define me as?"

Lanos pauses. Kieran turns her complete attention to the box with furrowed brows. "Lanos?"

"No information on Alpha Lantern Kieran presentable! Would you like me to begin reading the information gathered?"

"Sure," Kieran replies, slowly peeling the ring from her hand. The colors swirl up and into the ring like a sprinkler water show, lights diminishing in the small room. the blouse she had worn walking into the day looks like it hasn't been touched in months (thankfully by some miracle, it doesn't smell that way too). The girl turns onto her side facing the blank walls; although uneasy, a peace settles deep in the corners of her heart. The whiteness calms her uneasy nature.

As Lanos begins to recite information, a thought crosses the Alpha's mind…

Maybe, just maybe, everything will be okay.

She settles into a deep sleep somewhere between dreams of will and tomorrow's tears.

It was silent, too silent. She reluctantly comes back to life and rubs her eyes. Kieran turns to where the cube was before and find it still there.

"Llllanoooos," she yawns, "how long have I been asleep for?"

"Fourteen hours!" The boastful monotone seems tired too.

"When did you stop reading me the information?" She asks, sitting up on the bed. She finds the imprint of her silhouette was left behind on her bed.

"Thirty-two seconds before you woke up!"

Hotdamn.

"Are we there?"

"Yes! However, Honor Guard Captain Hal Jordan recommended that you be left alone! The Captain and Sergeant Kilowog departed the vessel in a hurried manner to greet someone outside!"

With a foggy mind, Kieran struggles to put her shirt back on - somewhere in her sleep, she managed it off. She stretches again after tying her laces, reciting newfound knowledge. The girl peers up at the machine. "Does this planet have food?" "Every planet that sustains life is capable of providing its own substance for consumption!"

"Good," she replies, more to herself than anyone else. She swings her ring into her hand and tosses it in the air as she walks out, "'Cause I'm starved."

The lights go out as the door closes behind her. Only the bed's shadow remained.


	6. Worth Being Beautiful For

It feels good to have ground beneath your toes.

What is even better is setting foot on a mystical planet that redefines imagination.

To be honest, it isn't much different from Earth forsay; trees and shrubbery decorate the distance over hanging cliffs and rolling hills. Flowers bloom out of the corner of your eye, and grass dances in the demanding, yet gentle, conducting hand of the wind.

It is beautiful.

Odym. The land of hope, tomorrow, dreams, and enlightenment. A home to heroes

and a growing family.

Walking down the ramp, Kieran was overcome with the power of life; the flana seemed to whisper its welcome and blow kisses. Amused by the diversity, she strolls over to the nearest tree - tree-thing, really - and gently fingers the petals blooming from a swirling branch.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" She spins to face a smile just as beautiful as the flower. "It is a favorite of mine. Do you see how to colors combine so nicely?" A four-fingered hand reaches out for the same petal. It caresses the the colors, tracing the hints of magenta with a blue-ringed finger. "The colors attract some of the most shy of creatures here. I'm surprised they came back out so soon after your ship landed." He meets her gaze and blinks warmly.

This guy blinks with two different eyelids.

"I am Saint Walker, and you must be the new star of our sky." She blushes, never have heard something so... sincere, in such a long time. "Hi," she replies, looking him up and down. This Walking Guy looks a lot like a mushroom with thin legs and gangly arms; evenso, he's well built and looks muscular under his frail frame. Kierian immediately feels more self-cautious about her muffin tops. He's missing a nose and some ears, but his smile makes up for it. She brushes her bangs out of her eye and turns back to the flower. "Mr. Walker, are you from here? Oh-dim is beautiful."

"It is. However, I often find that the lives that walk these surfaces tend to be the thing worth being beautiful for. Turn around, if you please." He reaches for a twine and gentle pulls it from the tree. Using it in careful fingers, he uses it to wrap her hair up and out of her face. He cups her chin and turns her back to him. "There my sister, now you have nothing to hid behind." She looks away; his kindness is too much to handle. He reaches for a flower and just as gently tucks it behind her ear. "And this will complement the soul you will become."

"Oh I get it. You're a spiritual man, like Gandhi."

"I know not who Gandhi is, and spirit is defined by what shapes us. We cannot grow if we do not allow ourselves to... But yes, I do believe in the strength of a spirit." His ring glows and a narrow blue streak ushers from it onto the branch. Unbelievably, the flower and twine grow back in the blink of an eye (or two, if you're a mushroom man). "The universe is in constant movement and will continue to change around us." Saint Walker begins to walk away from the girl, a really bizarre tail-type-thing hangs from the back of his head like a ponytail. "Despite the odds, the strength of one's spirit really help shape the universe, _if the bearer is willing to grow into their own skin_." He casts a look over his shoulder at the girl, who's trying to find a way to change her skin-tight outfit so the costume doesn't cling so tightly. "Come," he beckons to the sky, "Our company awaits your arrival. Brother Hal Jordan could not believe you sleep so soundly." He lift his dainty feet from the ground and starts to drift up and away, hands clasped behind his back. Kieran looks at him with a hesitant gleam - she can't remember how to will herself to fly.

But something kicks in. You know that feeling when the car beneath you hums to life? When watching someone do something they love, and something snaps in their eyes? The soul ignites and gushes like a waterfall. The soccer player rips the ground up beneath their feet, the student's mind clicks and they crunch away at their calculations. Realization is hit like lightning in a chilly kiss.

That moment springs from beneath Kieran - it is born in the corner of her mind dedicated to everything she has ever dreamed of. With confidence, she lights up the ground and begins to follow the Saint across treetops.

"Mr. Walker, I feel so, so -"

"It is nice, isn't it? When we allow hope within ourselves, we become the conduit of its potential. We breath its future." Kieran laughs. "How long have you been a fortune-cookie? Are your people like this? Your family must be something special, you're one heck more of a man than my father ever was."

His smile falters - the girl knows she struck a cord. "Oh, Mr. Walker, I'm sor-"

He interrupts her with a radiant smile. "My people are individuals, just like you and Brother Hal Jordan, and thus no two souls are the same. In terms of my family, you shall meet them soon."

They pick up speed and approach a cliffside. Kieran can't help but keep her head spinning at the scenery and finds herself drifting away from her guide all too often; every time, though, Saint Walker patiently waits until she regains control of herself.

They arrive at a clearing and lower themselves to the ground. Saint Walker approaches a walking, talking elephant (its an elephant wearing clothes; imagine trying to explain that to people) and a small blue man. Kieran bounds over to Hal as he waves her closer. The backs of two people face the girl and Kilowog laughs full-heartedly at something.

She has never heard the beastly man laugh before. It sounds weird coming from him.

"You guys, I've got this great padawan now, and -"

"Is it safe to assume she is as crazy as you?"

"Piiissshhhhh nah, she's not that cool yet!" Hal swats the idea away and wraps his arm around the now-awake Alpha Lantern. She smiles and extends a hand to the two she now faces before pulling it back. "Sorry," she says, catching herself again. But before she can pull her arm away, the young man grabs it aggressively with a strong smile. "No need to be sorry."

His voice is strong but also submissive, his life scarred yet flourishing. His eyes are tired and his head is high. Rough hands clasp around hers, and despite having the same blue uniform as Saint Walker, he does not seem to have that... compassionate charm the mushroom man has.

But he stands for the same cause as Saint Walker, and if anything, it is just as hard-earned. But now he has subdued, and similar to a raging wind, he is trying to settle into a calm breeze; the lifestyle change hasn't swept away the scars on his chin and cheeks however. "Hello, Mr. Razer."

"You must be Kieran. Jordan has told us a lot about you." Razer gently wraps his arms around the woman next to him. "Alpha Lantern Kieran, meet Aya, my wife." She offers both her hands to the girl, a gentle smile also at the corner of her cheeks. "Hello Kieran," her voice, soft like a summer dream, lights up when you look at it. Her hair reminds Kieran of a young bird's flight feathers - it is short, white, and wispy. Also like a newborn's soft hair, It almost looks like she hasn't had it for very long.

That is not the only thing that looks new to her. The light-green woman is pregnant.

"Kier, these kids are like my own."

"We are hardly children, Hal," Aya childs as Razer lifts a brow. "you haven't called us that in a long time, Jordan. Did you come all this way just to show off to your student?"

"Do you really think that lowly of me?" Hal retorts proudly. Kilowog grunts. "You two ain't old enough yet, don' tell us what to say."

"Of course, you Bolovaxian oaf."

She can't believe that just happened; did this grey guy really just insult a space-cop sergeant? He's got some gut!

Hal turns to Kieran as Kilowog punches Razer. "I like your hair. Did you sleep well?" Kieran flashes a hand back to the flower. "Oh, yeah. I sleep good. The flower was, um, Mr. Walking's idea."

"He is Saint Walker," Razer corrects in his cold monotone - he does not mean harm, just truth.

"Oh, sorry!" she whips around to look at the slender guy... who is talking to an elephant. An elephant wearing clothes. He didn't hear the mistake, or he just didn't care.

Aya steps closer to the Alpha. "I hear you work wonders with children," her beautiful voice pipes up. With keen blue eyes twinkling like stars, the woman could very well be out of a fairytale. She is a little short - still taller than Kieran though - and has gentle curves. A plump stomach hides under the draping shall she wears, and some insignias decorate it.

"Oh my gosh, I love working with kids! My sister's still one herself." She looks down and rubs an arm. "Miss her already."

Aya reaches out to the girl. "My sister, there is no need for you to feel sad about the distance between. She is in your heart, and that is what matters." For some reason, Aya seems to have a lot more hiding behind that comment that at first glance.

Kieran turns to Hal after a silent pause. "Is everyone here a fortune cookie, or do you only make friends with nerds? No offense."

"Come," Aya commands, taking the girl by the arm between the men's chuckles, "We must find Anu. He has been exploring for far too long." She rolls her eyes back at Razer who has a puzzled expression shoot across his brow. "A certain husband of mine was supposed to keep him near, but when guest come, he forgets his duty as a father."

"I do not!" The sharp voice chases after his wife. Kieren turns to the young woman, who simply winks and strolls towards the trees.

Obediently, Kieran follows. She can almost hear the trees' whispers in the gentle, warm wind.


	7. Almost

With the drop of the sun came the rise of two gargantuan moons, and the weather followed their respective suitors. The songs of nature quietly succumbed to the chants of the nightlife, tucked away in the shadows of bramble and stone. Once, Kieran thought she was sure to have a small critter in her grasp - she did actually catch it, and had only a moment to bask in the clash of colors and vivid, wild set of eyes, before it spat at her and scampered away on hind legs. Razer smiles, coming in close over his shoulder to peer at the creature, his son laughing at the milky slim it sputtered. At first insulted and awkward, Kieran tried to slump away with a bruised ego and a smelly face, but Anu flies from Razer and attaches himself to her leg.

"You almost had it!" his face, light with the innocence of childhood, glistens in the dying light. "Teach me! Catch another!"

Anu had been found about a mile away, coated in dirt and smiling from ear to ear. The pre-adolescent instantly declared Kieran a friend before making her his sister, then settling on his girlfriend. Aya slung the boy onto her hip and they made their way back to camp, denying his dream of battling alongside the Alpha. "Is that what you guys do out here? Get married, then fight? Seems like a rocky relationship."

Aya laughed lightly, her hair swaying at the effort of carrying her adopted son. "Not exactly," she replied, "but around here, life tends to come... very fast at you. Things happen and duty has to be held to keep the peace."

"Has this place ever not been at peace? Sorry, but it seems like its barely seen the back-end of any weapon in ages." The comment brings down the light in Aya's eyes, but Anu's wailing fists makes her plant him on the ground. "If you don't want to be carried, just say it," she childs. He stomps. "I don' wanna be carried!"

"Very well then." Aya turned back to her guest as Anu raced in front of them. "It wasn't actually that long ago when this entire region of space was... in peril. War raged everywhere, even in the most beautiful of places... Here, try this fruit." She paused to shrug her shall higher up her shoulder and took the opportunity to change the subject; Kieran didn't pester the woman about it again.

But opportunity has a way of walking up and knocking doors down - after being declared "disgusting", "smelly", and "a disgrace to [his] training capabilities", Kieran was sent away with Anu and Razer to some fresh springs to wash up. Here, she tries again with Razer. She fought briefly to use one of the showers on the ship, but Hal boots her to follow the father and son.  
"He sure looks like you," Kieran says to Volkregian. He throws his son (father-son relationships never seem to be that normal, do they?) into a feathery pit of blue softness. Razer smiles at his newest guest. "Anu is adopted. His home world - _my_ home world - was devastated by war. Aya couldn't turn down a face like his."

"Wow." A pause as they step over a root. "And you have another on the way, huh?"

Razer beams quietly, a sly smile prying at the corners of his sharp cheeks and his eyes fall, making him look like a narrow-eyed blue jay.

But the glow of an expecting mother radiates to the father-to-be; if you could feel his pride, excitement, fear, or joy, you'd be swimming in it.

The quiet soul simply meets the girls eyes. Razer's cold, stormy-blue pupils gleam like a shimmering sea.

"Indeed."

Anu teeters back, giggling hysterically and clinging on to Kieran. She swoops down and picks him up, tickling his stomach. "You're a handsome gumball, aren't you?" she coos, making him giggle and put his hands on either side of her face. "Wasssa gumball?" He squeezes her cheeks, giving Kieran the look of a chipmunk.

"You is a gumball!" She teases, brushing his nose with hers. He laughs and starts to wave his arms. "Down down down down!"

"How about using manners, little man? Where i come from, 'please' is a magic word."

Razer looks at her in surprise. They have reached their destination. "Magic?"

"Uh, reality manipulation. Kinda cool stuff, but that's not the point." She winks at the father and hands his son over. Anu seems to be thinking before looking over Razer's shoulder back at the girl. "Down, please down."

"Much better," Razer beams, scruffing his son's head. He, too, turns around to face the girl. "Use any of the springs. We will wait for you over here when you are done to walk back together." He smiles a wicked, beautiful smile. "Take your time."

"I plan on it."

She turns to walk between springs, legs crossing at each step to not fall in. The water kindles the same clarity as the sky, and with a gentle tip of her toe, it is just as warm as a mother's hug.

She slips her ring off and eases off her actual clothes. She sinks in the warmth and forgets the fact that she's millions of lightyears away from Earth. Forgets the fact that she's rinsing off in a pond of fresh water. The gentle warmth laps at her sore body (the effects of battling gravity is starting to have an effect) and she muses over the small family that Hal and Kilowog love so dearly.

Sinking deeper into the small, luxurious pool, her toes stick up and she wiggles them. She almost believes that _everything will actually be okay. _


	8. Underneath

Kieran would have fallen asleep in the spring water if she hadn't already slumbered half a day away. With a groggy, yet peaceful mind, she absorbs the information she's gathered.

its weird, how curiosity can drive a person. it can fuel someone to dip their toe in the ocean or race the wind. It has led mankind to not only admire the stars, but dream of traveling to them in the vastness of space. The love of tomorrow derives from the lostness of the day before, and only can curiosity quench the thirst for life beyond existence.

Its hard to put such an obscure object into words, especially since everything that mankind is results from curiosity. We owe our _everything _to this concept that pushes us off cliffs, and yet we tend to see only the bad that branches from it.

Curiosity did indeed kill the cat.

She slips on her clothes after trying to dry off between large, sponge-like leaves. The girl eases the ring back on her finger and curls her fist at the energy gushes from it. If'd she knew now what power was tucked away inside of the ring, she may have quite then and there. Its ironic how the small moments in life tend to stand up after the darkness washes over you. Its moments like these...

But that kick, that push, that adrenaline rush! It floods her and makes her straighten her back. The human Alpha takes her twine and flower and ties her dark curls into a bun, the flower pinning back any strands attempting to fly freely. She picks up her feet and retraces her steps to await the arrival of her escorts.

She can hear them, Anu laughing and Razer's deep chuckle; the flower of family is fragile, beautiful, and life defining. She wishes she had that.

Kieran also knows the strength of privacy and allows them their time. Leaning in, she inspects the fauna around her. The moons hang overhead, peering down over the leafy trees to peek over her shoulder.

One leaf, the size of a dog, catches her attention. Leaning in closely, Kieran peers into the pores of nature and touches the silky surface, stroking it gently between her thumb and forefinger.

Two pores blink, making Kieran catch her breath. Then two more seem to blink, and the gentle breeze catches its breath.

Hesitantly, Kieran reaches to touch the blinking eyes. Catlike, ovaly, and glistening like stars, the eyes wait for the girl's hand.

A hiss comes from the leaf, and startles Kieran enough to make her step back. It continues to hiss and rattles a little. She can only look on in awe.

Curiosity gets the best of her, and Kier stoops over to peek under the leaf. Intricate arrays of respiratory, digestive, and (she can only assume) reproductive systems come to life. The leaf is alive. It breathes away as if gaping for a frantic last breath.

"Oh my go-"

It leaps at her face and clings to her, the silky surface muffling her short scream. She rips it off after a heartbeat's struggle. The creature, after releasing his captive, Hisses a shrill cry and the forest responds.

About a million leaves of different size and color snap to life, their eyes kindling the drive to survive. They unclasp sharp claws from swirling branches and levitate. And in another heartbeat, the sky is flooded with vivid shades of green, blue, and purple. The calls of leafy-critters spin around the girl, making her fall, but her voice come back.

She's laughing.

Anu comes running up, yelling at the creatures. "Don' go! don' go don' go don' go!" His bare naked bum greet Kieran from her viewpoint of the ground. She starts laughing even harder, making the little boy turn around with a wicked smile. His spiky hair is wet, and bubbles are all over him in conveniently covered areas. "Doit'gan!" He commands, eyes lighting up.

"Oh no you don't," Razer gently growls, shooting a blue beam to encase his son in a bubble, "We haven't cleaned behind your ears yet." To his guest, he adds. "We'll be done soon, i apologize for making you wait."

Kieran smiles at the young father. "I freaking love your backyard. take your time."


	9. Before it all Changed

They stroll back to camp, Razer and his son questioning the girl the entire way. Kieran's curiosity was bubbling at the prosperous idea of her reshaping her mortal existence, and she too had questions left unanswered, but she answered each question to the best of her ability.

"What are you, on Earth?"

"W'as Earth?"

"Did you know Hal Jordan before receiving the ring?"  
"Will you gimme your ring?"

"The Sargent mentioned you being an "Alpha Lantern," what does that imply?"

"Will you catch a scuttlebug for me... for me please?"

"Since you spent hours listening to the rules of the Lantern Corps, you know them. Do you agree with them?"

"Will you be my girlfriend forever?"

"...Will you promise me you will never date my son?"

"What makes you have dark skin? What's wrong with your hair? Don't you brush it?"

"Who was the one that attacked you."

"Something is in your nose."

Kieran was more than happy to return to camp when they did.

"Kiddo, come here and try this!" Hal Jordan has some sort of marsh weed sticking above the fire. His face is lit up by the rising flames, a smile stretching across his existence; he almost looks like a child again. She sits gladly next to him, and a weird wave of comfort flushes over her. Maybe its the fact that he's one heck of a sexy, full-grown man. Maybe its the fact that he's a beautiful man with a childlike smile on his face, roasting a marshmallow. Maybe, just maybe, it is because he is a protector of her home, her family, her friends. He hands her some toasted sweets.

Or, perhaps its because he is the only other human in the galaxy that they are sitting in, smiling sillily away, roasting marshmallows. Whatever it is the girl feels, it is comforting, a gentle, caressing fire, a warmth that can only be compared to... fatherhood, perhaps? A brotherhood? The substance between them, equally felt, makes the two lonely humans smile at each other. Neither can put a finger on it, but Kieran snuggles closer to him. A tear almost escapes her, pressed out from the corners of the Unnamed Substance, but it is pushed back by her curiosity. By her humanity.

He pulls a final marshmallow closer and teases her with it. "Can I?" She asks, looking up at her teacher. He pulls it off, then thinks, and presses it back on. It oozes a little at the pressure, and the girl rolles her eyes and tries to scoot away, but Hal won't let her avoid this.

"Naw-uh kid, you need to learn. This is a learning opportunity."

"Come on, Jordan, we just got here. Can't all the learning stuff start tomorrow?"

"You never know if tomorrow is going to come, Kieran." A solumness hides behind his masks, his hands idly rotating the roasted sweet. "As a lantern, you start the moment your feet touch the ground. You start the moment the air touches your lungs. And, don't forget, you start when your superiors tell you to start. I'd rather be the one pushing you to begin with than the precious Kilowog." Kilowog snorts, overhearing the conversation. He wants to agree but can't. Not at the tomorrow thing, but at the training.

She reaches for the stick stubbornly, but he pulls it out of reach. "Grab it," he commands, "With a construct hand. Its really not _that_ hard."

"Hal, you know I can't."

"And you know I don't believe that."

"Hal, I just can't. Why can't you accept that? Do you really want to watch me starve to death out here?"

"If that's what it takes, then yes."

The girl folds her arms before looking around for another escape route. She plucks a nearby marshweed from its root, but Saint Walker is the one to take it away from her.

"Flowers," he advises, "will not bloom unless it takes the nutrients at its roots."

"Do you really think I'm a flower?" She casts at the mushroom man, eyes sharp. He strums an instrument, unaware of her hostility. "I think we are all flowers, in a way."

"Aaaarrrgggg!" She moans in defeat, gripping her head in her hands and pulling it between her legs. This makes everyone laugh. That is, everyone but Hal, who smiles sternly, and the small blue man, who looks on in earnest curiosity. He drifts over (Kieran can't see any legs under the red robes) and places himself beside her on the fallen log. "My dear child, you are here for a reason," he begins, his voice is calm yet tired, like an ancient soul who's spoken more than his fair share in life. She peeks over at him, his eyes kind and blue, just like the rest of him. Crinkles and wrinkles dance across his features in the firelight. He smiles warmly, like an all-knowing grandfather. "Your reason is your own."

"Sorry sir, I mean Guardian sir, but I don't know why the heck I was thrown into all of this."

"Don't you? The computer's system history seems to tell otherwise." He waves a hand in the direction of the ship. She sighs and rolls her head back on her neck, arms tight around her legs. How he knew of her 13 hours of LANOS reading, she will never know. "Dude, sorry, Guardian sir-"

"Please, call me Ganthet."

"Sorry, thank you Mr. Ganthet, but honestly?" She peeks at him. He's starring in the fire. "But I'm just a kid, just like everyone else. Just a little human, just a little person from a little world, from a corner of the universe. I'm just a... I'm only human."

"And who do you think these people were, before being chosen by the rings? Kilowog here was a scientist and a simple father." Kilowog grunts, softly this time, and you can almost see his history burning in the flame before them all. A scientist, _maybe_... but a father? "Brother Warth was but a son, a neighbor, and is now a conduit of hope for all the universe." Warth nods happily, embracing the new him. She still can't believe the fact that he's a walking, talking elephant. Before Kieran can interrupt the ex-Guardian of the Universe, he continues, waving his hand at everyone gathered around the hearth. "Saint Walker was but a nomad, a homeless good-doer." The mushroom man blinks contently, strumming away at a guitar-like construct. I gleams out of blue light. "We are more alike than you may think," he mumbles quietly over his instrument. Ganthet continues.

"Hal, to my understanding, was but a worker, committed to his job and joy." The Honor Guard human shrugs sheepishly with a beautiful human smile. "Aya, believe it or not, came from the creature that gifts the green lanterns the ability to shape their will. Ion fathers our conduits. Little Anu was abandoned, left for dead on his home." He looks at the laughing child, spinning around, chasing a butterfly. "Brother Razer was a conduit of rage, a being lost in his despair." Kieran looks curiously at the man who scrubs his child's ears at night, and he looks up to meet her eye. A rage still burns inside of him, but is now gentled by the kindred spirit of love. "And you?" She asks, looking back at her new favorite teacher. He smiles sadly. "I was one of the council of the Guardians of the Universe, but I did not see eye to eye with the dictated ways. I was outcasted by my brothers and sisters."

"Wow." She whispers, looking around the people gathered. Ganthet presses on with a wave of his hand. "You see, my dear child. We are all but creatures of compassion, beasts of burden. We are all gifted the same curse, a blessing of existence beyond survival. My dear, dear, silly girl," He reaches to pat her shoulder, "you may think yourself alone, but you will never be such. You are a part of a large, proud, and noble family now." He takes the same hand and uses it to prod her chest, where Kieran's young but strong heart beats away. "And this family stretches beyond your wildest imagination, _but it will always stem from here_. Do you understand my words? We are all the same, we are all _one_, in our core. Your oath is more than words."

"But why the hell - sorry, 'scuse my French - am I an 'Alpha Lantern'? And sorry, but what actually happened to you?" She waves a hand at Razer and Aya, sitting happily beside each other. Razer nuzzles Aya's hair, murmuring softly, but stopping as the girl questions them. "Sorry, but i looked you guys up on LANOS. I'm so confused, so... i don't know, mind-blown?"

"Kiddo-"

"Stop it Hal, but i need to understand what i am up against here. I need to know what i stand for and who i stand beside. _I don't even know if_ you people are the good guys!" Her voice falls shrill and deep, fluxuating at the question of reliability. It almost feels like claws raking at the back of her mind as the words pour from her uncontrollably.

"Kiddo, enough."

"Why? are you now going to tell me how to live my life? For all I know, you're _still a robot being controlled by a_... space monster!" He voice reaches its threatening new low, and she coughs to clear her lungs, but something... deep inside... _burns_. She turns to Razer. "You could still be _some guy trying to kill_ everyone! _As an Alpha, it is my duty to protect and voice those who cannot. I am to regulate the lanterns that cannot do so themselves; you have a criminal record, ex-Red Lantern Razer, and now that you have aligned yourself with a reneged, rouge, ex-Guardian, I am but to assume that the entire Blue Lantern corps is but a - _What the hell do you want, Jordan?"

"I was just going to tell you to stop waving your hand around, you might knock someone over."

"Huh?"

"look at your constructs, Poozer."

A giant had stretches from both of her arms. The arm with her ring, swinging around in emphasis, gleams a radioactive, electric coating from her shoulder down to her fingertips, sparking raw energy. Her limb dances, small rays of energy popping and racing across her forearm. Kieran twists her arm around, examining what the heck had just happened. Some sharp, green slime coils around her and almost whips her face, but she pulls away quickly.

The light dances in front of everyone, Anu even stop spinning to look at it in awe. His face, beautiful and innocent, explodes a little bit when he sees her eyes.

"Kirinnnnnn! You're green!" That burn inside had come to life, growing from her pupils and stretching to grip her entire eyesight - dangerous green flames spark from her brown eyes.

The girl stands - jk, she unknowingly beings levitating. A prickling sense of fear starts to bloom - the lost flower deep inside of her - at the newfound willpower exploding from the crevices of her existence. Kieran, the human Alpha Lantern, does not understand what is happening, but others do.


	10. Before it all Changed pt 2

Hal rises to meet her, his expression unreadable. "Kiddo, you need to breath, you need to remember who you are." His head whips to the side down at Kilowog. The Bolovaxian doesn't have a very good poker face however, and has astonishment stretching across an agape mouth. He looks at Jordan. "Wasn't expectin' her to go all Alpha on us so soon!" He starts to pick himself up, but Ganthet raises a hand to keep the Sargent planted on the ground. Reluctantly, the oafy man complies.

Kieran's face begins melting; not at the fire burning within - we all have that inside us - but at the fear of her raw, ripe energy. You don't need to set your house on fire to know you can do it, you don't need to swing an axe to understand the damage you can do with it. She can almost feel the ground quaking, awaiting misfortune. She starts to shake with it, and Hal eases closer with an arm outstretched.

"Kiddo, Kieran, listen to me. This is just you, this...-this is the reason why you are here. Not because you have all this... energy," he raises his other arm. He is close enough to her to see the sweat starting to collect at the corners of the green potential. He can see her shake uncontrollably, trying to keep the fire raging inside from exploding.

Or would it be called an implosion?

But she can't hear him over the roar of her heartbeat, raking away in her ears. Her eyes dart to Saint Walker; his expression has but curiosity, and he gently re-awakens his fingertips under her gaze, pulling a final string on his guitar.

She still can't hear it.

Her blood is ice, her rage is lightning. Her fear boils, her confusion blisters under the intensity. But it's when she sees the eyes of the lone human in front of her. That's when she finds herself again.

Hal pulls away his mask, a meter away from the girl, breathing shallow, hollow breathes of anticipation. His eyes - those human eyes - don't blink.

Her violent shaking vibrates the energy molecules dancing on her fingertips. Kieran pulls her hands up to her face to inspect the palpable emotion. The light is brilliant, exhilarating just to look at, and glistens like newborn stars.

But stars are nuclear beasts of burden. When stars cry, black holes are born, and an infinite hunger devours the universe. That is what makes her the most scared.

The 'only-human' girl's voice rises over the thumping and raking inside of her. "_What, wha-whats hap-p-ppening to m-m-me?"_ Her brown eyes meet his green ones, and he smiles; it's one of those smiles that can kill, if you know what I mean. He inches closer.

"You're growing kiddo, you're reaching out with your abilities. You're filling the shoes that the ring knew you had. This is why you're here hon, this is what will make you the hero you were born to be."

"_This isn't normal,"_ She whispers, drifting away from the man. He comes closer anyway. "So it isn't. Just embrace it, Kier, embrace the person that you are. Don't let the power eat you up, but let yourself... I dunno, merge with the energy? Come'on kid, that's right, just breathe. Calm down... Breath." Her body rumbles like the Earth being ripped in half, her eyes dance dangerously.

"Kieran Angela Lucas, look in my eyes. What do you see?" When she doesn't answer, he gets a little more forceful; he knows the threat of this battle - if Hal loses her now, she'll be that much closer to becoming a machine lantern. He won't lose her... he can't. "WHAT do you SEE? Answer your superior officer!"

"_Honor Guard Lantern Hal Jordan of Earth is not a superior officer to any member of the Alpha Lanterns. The duty of the noble Alpha Corps is to regulate all Lanterns."_

"Kier, what am I?" She pauses, the light of humanity starting to fade into the darkness of the code and regulation. "_You are a Green Lantern_."

"No, I'm more than that and I'm less than that. Just like everyone here. Just like Kilowog and Razer and Aya and Walker. Who am I? What was it Ganthet told you?" Hal lingers now close enough to inhale the toxins the girl breathes out. He touches her arm, pulling the shaking limb down to her side. It is cold as Arctic ice.

His free hand slowly reaches forward, and she flinches back. Kieran quakes silently. Kilowog stands beneath them, holding his breath. Aya holds a fearful Anu, and Razer stands between his family and the girl victim to power way out of her league. He bares his teeth, ready to embrace his inner darkness, the demons that consumed him for years. The Volkregian is more than willing to rip the lid off his rage; excitement is almost tasteable at the corners of his mouth.

Saint Walker stands beside Brother Warth, whose head is down and hands clasped together. Ganthet stares into the fire... he can't eye the beast he created. He won't accept the defeat of his failed project.

The wind stop whistling, the scuttlebugs sit still. Even Odym seems hesitant to move in its eternal dance.

Hal Jordan prods the girl's chest and barely manages to whisper Ganthet's words. "This, this in here? This is what makes you, and me, and everyone around us. Don't let the power get to your head kiddo. Come on Kieran, you're stronger than that."

"You really think so?" Her voice wavers.

"I know so."

She takes a deep breath.

He takes both hands and places them on her shoulders, starting to compress the power, or at least trying too. He presses gently, trying to ease them both to the ground again. "You asked why you got the ring, and I didn't tell you the truth. Alpha Lanterns aren't just the police of the police - they have more will than the normal person has. And you know the oath a lantern takes, right? When a ring chooses it's... bearer, it whispers to you from your soul. Mine said that I have the power to overcome great fear. That's why I'm here.

You don't have that reason, that excuse." The tips of their toes gently caress the grassy surface. The rapid energy, the crazy hormones set a-flame within, start to settle. Ashes fill her eyes in the form of tears. "What did the ring tell you? Come on kid - what did the ring tell you?"

"I-I-I... _I have_ the, the, _the will to overcome_ the, the, the..."

"The what? Come on Kieran."

"The fear from others."

The green dies from her body. Her body stops shaking, but her lower lip trembles. Hal pulls the girl into his broad chest, stroking the back of her head. Oh my god that was too damn close! "I'm so sorry-"

"Shhhhh."

"I can't believe that I - I did that -"

"Kiddo stop it, stop talking. it was scary for all of us."

"That's too much power Hal, that's too much." She hugs him fiercely as she shakes now with the effort of suppressing sobs. "Oh my god, I saw-I saw me, burning everyone. Everything! I saw me with, with a ma-machine... for a face! I felt like I was... like I was... _falling_... into myself. Into my... own... darkness." She looks up at him, tears streaking down her long face. "Don't let me do that again. Take this away from me. Take the pressure, take the power, take the pain away."

He pulls her closer and sighs. Ganthet, though, is the one to answer her. "We cannot. You were chosen. This is who you are meant to be. Denying it would make you live an untrue life."

She cries.


	11. Camping Out

"You knew that was going to happen to me." It wasn't a question, and they both knew it. He jabs at her, but the advanced Alpha ring sees his projectile path. She swoops easily to the side. It is a slow and hesitant dodge, but it is still a dodge - isn't that what counts at the end of the day?

"_Humf_. It was only a matter of time." He forms a hammer and swings down on her. She glides to the side, flips up to keep kinetic momentum, and kneels in the atmosphere supporting her ringed arm - in the blink of an eye, the girl was not only above the legendary peace-bringer, but had her cold ring pressed against his rippling neck.

"And you didn't say anything, didn't help me, didn't - I don't know - prepare me? _isn't that your one job, Sargent?"_

"You're fallin' again, kid." He jams a sharp elbow in her direction, but she rotates around to face the veteran. "Am I?" She questions, dodging a few mediocre-speeding pin missiles. "Or am I just finally seeing the light? _I'm just your tool, huh?"_

Kilowog huffs again, rolling his eyes. Its been almost an entire day since Kieran was exposed to the true power of the Alpha calling. She begged for forgiveness, which everyone was willing to give - except for Razer, of course.

She retired, retreating to her quarters with Saint Walker to accompany her back to the ship. He spoke to her almost the entire way, and one can only imagine the power behind his words. The girl hugs him, which he returned; the light danced from them, glowing like an invisible candle flame, and Razer marched over to a gloomy Hal and Kilowog. Ganthet the ex-Guardian staring longingly into the fire.

"I am sorry, but that girl is not welcome here."

"Come on Razer, she needs this -"

"No, Hal, that is far enough. I will not be putting others in danger just by having her around."  
"No one's in danger, she's just got-"

"Jordan, I don't think you're hearing me. I want her no where near my family."

"Ya haven't even given her the chance, Red," Kilowog dared suggest, arms tight across his chest like Razer. "You of all should know -"

"What? Should know what, Kilowog? Patients? Practicality? I see my family-" he waves back at Aya, who's holding a curious Anu, and a frown marries her flawless features as she saw her husband gesture wildly. Razer continues sharply. "I see my family, and I see the peril that they are in with that wild Grotling running loose. When you said you were bringing her here, you said she had no power; obviously she does. I did not know that meant she had no control over her power."

"As I was gonna say, you should know second chances, Poozer." Razer narrowed his eyes, the dormant flame coming back to life after being suppressed for such an eternity.

"Razer," Aya stood and wrapped herself around his arm. He looks at her - no, into her - and the flame instantly falls to ash. His brow softens and his heart leaps. Her beauty is no match to her compassion. "She is lost, like you were, like I was. She can do a lot more good than bad. She's out of reach of those who will want to hurt her or use her, and Odym's cloaked. She can bring a lot of good to the Green Lantern Corps, help them out of the darkness."

"You can feel it, can't you?" Razer got softer than ever, worry stretching across him. She smiled and brushed his cheek before turning to Hal and Kilowog. "I can," she agrees, "Or, Ion can at least."

"You are also part Guardian, Aya Greenlight. Do you feel their distress?"

"Yes," she turns to address Ganthet, who's turning into a statue staring at the dying fire. "It is subtle, I'm assuming because of our distance, and I could possibly feel more if I delve into it."

"Don't you dare," Hal snapped, but she smiled at him in reassurance. "I will not, but I also will not allow a lost soul to lose herself. She stays." Razer opened his mouth but knows his words will not be welcome. Anu teetered over and clung to his father. "Papa-Ra, why was Kiriiiin loud and pretty?" The young man paused and rubbed his brow before he stooped over to hoist his son to his waist. "Why are you still awake? It is far beyond your bedtime." The boy reaches for his mom. "I wan' sleep with Mama-Ay!" he moans, Razer rubs his son's nose with his own. "We'll all spend the night together. I'll feel better that way, won't you?" He casts a last, snarky eye at his guests before heading to their small house. Aya stands on her tiptoes, a hand on her expanding abdomen, and kisses Hal and Kilowog on the cheek each. "I will talk with him." She promised. "You'd better," Hal said with a smile, "He won't turn your words away, and we aren't going anywhere." He smiled and rested a hand on the young woman's shoulder. Jordan looked up at Kilowog. "Seems like just yesterday we "borrowed" the _Interceptor_, huh?"

Kilowog huffed, but softened. "You dragged me into this madness then, and you dragged me into this now. Why ain't you gettin that fancey human to go everywhere with you instead?"

"Don't you dare bring up Gardner -"

"Good night," Aya softly wishes them. They watch her retreat to her small hut-house, where her husband and son await. Kilowog broke the silence. "You're right. It was' just yesterday."

But reminiscence didn't keep Kilowog from his promise to the guardians - at 4:00 sharp the next morning, Kilowog blasts into Kieran's quarters. "RECRUIT 2814, UP AND AT'EM!"

She tugs her pillow over her head with a muffled curse. "Damnit Kilowog, you said five in the morning, not four!"

"ANOTHER LAP."

"Wha-"

"EVERY PRECIOUS MINUTE I SPEND WAITING FOR YOUR SORRY ASS TO GET UP IS ANOTHER LAP I'M ADDING TO YOUR MORNING WORKOUT. _GET UP, POOZER!"_

And so the new day began - the Sargent booming away at his newest recruit under the fading moons. As darkness eased into light, the morning tramped along, and you could practically hear the sun chuckling at the prodigue of peace.

Kilowog gave the girl three hours as a break, to eat and do as she pleased; she consumed a cow's worth of food ("Delicious space-plant root, and that sweetened, blood-sucking gnat? Mmmm, thank you so much Mrs. Aya!") and slept under a hearty tree. She re-awoke to Anu jumping on her stomach, commanding her to catch something he called a scuttlebug ("Oh, that little rolly-polly-thing? Sure, let's go find some"). After hunting in the brushes for a good fifteen minutes, Kilowog shouted for his sparring partner. She didn't realize how tired - no, exhausted - she felt until Kilowog shouted for her a second time.

However, this time she was prepared. The dawn workout went without a word, but now she's had an entire morning to muse over the night before.

"A tool, aren't I?" The conversation continues. He swings at her, but she eases backwards.

"Kid, you can't win a fight if you don't throw a punch."

"Says you." Swat. Roll.

"And wha's your point, 2814?" Hammer. Dodge.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Pause. pin-missiles. Twist.

Pause. Shaggy breathing.

"'Cause I didn' know how to tell ya." Big, fat ol' shot. Hit her in the face, it plasters to her like glue.

She rips it off and throws it aside; it evaporates quickly in the makeshift arena. Things are heating up.

"And am I really?" Tired of dealing with her, Kilowog quickens. Charge. Arm block. _sucker_.

He hits her in the gut - gentle, yes, but enough to steal her breath away. She is thrust into the ground.

"'N are you really, what?" She peers up at him, then spits to the side. Kieran's hair is messy, her eyes are sharp, and her left arm glows a faint green. Kilowog stands over her, blocking the sun like a demonic angel. His gargantuan hands are planeted on his hips.

"2814."

He grunts and offers her a hand. The girl swats it away and stands up, swaying as she tries to balance. She arches a brow at him, awaiting an answer. "One bit at a time, Alphie."

She raises her fists to eye level, morphing from a staggering teenager into a boxer. The teacher smiles.

"You've got a lot ta' learn, K'rin."

"Then keep at it, we're not getting any younger."

Kilowog pauses, briefly. He offers her another hand, and she eyes it warily. "An idea? An answer for an answer."

"Okay, but me first." She takes his hand and shakes it. "So, am I actually 2814?"

"No, Hal's got your home under lock and key. Plus those two other humans drift 'round, so you've got no right to the secta. My turn."

"Ask away." He throws a punch, but she side-shuffles.

"How do ya' already know to fight? And since you do, why ain't you fightin' back?"

"Unfair - that's two questions."

"We can make it two laps."

She pauses, the challenge starting to die in her eyes. The little sparks that twinkled against her forearm corrode swiftly. She looks back at him, a ferocity raging in her heart. "I learned to fight when my brother died... and...-and fighting back brings you down to their level."

"Who?" He asks, softly; unlike Hal, Kilowog didn't know she lost a family member. Awful young to do so. Kieran doesn't look away, and his eyes are trapped in her gaze. "Who do you think?"


	12. Sitting in the Flames

Corruption, it burns inside and out. You can't put a finger on it, though, until the day comes where your flame inside ignites and fuses with the madness outside of you. You can't name a substance that doesn't exist beyond your breath, but so many people try to figure out how to express their corruption without burning the world around them. They try to keep their heads above water as it oozes into magma.

And that's just what happened.

Kieran seldom spoke, and when she did, her words were sharp. She walked stiffly and without purpose. When anyone met her eyes, her amber spark seemed so... lifeless. It's hard to explain what its like for a person to lose the will to live, and it was evident when she was trying to tap the Green Lantern energy; nothing came out. Just the simple action of trying to fly sent sparks of protest through her spin. She'd curse and spit, kick and walk around with fists, and often spent time by herself.

It was weird when Anu would stumble into her - being that she was the only person on the planet he didn't know, he toyed with her like a new... well, toy. A faint gleam with reignite inside of her and she'd grow soft and caring, walking around with the little boy towing her into the forest to capture some poor insect. Any acknowledgement of her being happy with him was bluntly denied.

It was the eighth night of Camp I'm'a'gonna'kick'your'ass'here'in'space'military't raining. Her body was ready to be blown away by the wind, her limbs ready to fall off, but Kilowog stopped her after her dawn workout with a raised hand. "What? Don't tell me I have to do another." Sweat drips into her eyes, and Kieran the human briskly brushes it away. "Na. Jordan, Razer and I are headed out. You get the even'n off."

"Where are you going? Can I come?"

"Do you really wanna come?" He looks at her, hands planted firmly on his broad waist. She hesitates, which is all he needs to know. He softens a little and starts to drift away - the girl follows her teacher.

Kilowog makes his way to the ship, where Razer, Aya, and Hal Jordan are discussing. Kieran tries her luck here, asking Hal if she can tag along, "Just to see what they're up to."

The Honor Guard member smiles and rests a hand on her shoulder. "Naw kiddo, where we're headed isn't a very pretty place. We don't know what we'll find, but we don't want you to get hurt."

"Learning on the job is one of the best ways to learn."

Hal frowns at the girl; what happened to the happy, earnest, compassionate teenager he meet a week ago? Her eyes even glistened darkly, or was it his imagination?

"Kiddo, you're going to stay here. Do anything Aya asks you to do."

"She's not going with you?"

"I tried," The young woman shrugs. "I may not be a navigation unit any more, but I once was."

"We definitely do not want you in harms way," Razer buts in, looking at his wife sternly... or was he? Aya sighs and turns back to the girl, prying herself away from her husband's love. "We'll have a nice girl-time outing, won't we?"

Kieran looks away as everyone peers at her. "Uh... fine, I guess so."

The green lady turns back to the men. "What is your estimate for return arrival?"

"We don't know," Hal admits sheepishly, "So don't set us a place at the table."

Everyone looks at him curiously, but he winks at Kieran. She doesn't seem to even have noticed his words - she stares ahead blankly.

Hal sighs in defeat and turns to the ship. "Come on boys, we've got a problem to solve."

Razer swoops over his wife, kissing her with nothing but passion. She pushes him away as he lingers, Kilowog making his way to Jordan. "Go," She commands, pressing at his shoulders, forcing him away. "I'll return," He mumbles, looking deep into her beautiful eyes. She smiles. "You always return." She nods in the direction of the waiting guys, "Go, and keep an eye on them for me."

As Razer reluctantly turns fro her, he stares into Kieran, who stares blankly back - she couldn't give a damn what was going on, she was just so... lifeless. Razer almost shivered; what the hell's going on in the kid? He frowns internally at the idea of his wife being within reach of this shell of a soul, but the blue spark that rests inside of him flickers in pity for the child.

Hal meets Aya's eyes and flickers back at Kieran. She catches the small gesture and smiles knowingly. Girl time is exactly what the young Alpha needs, even if she doesn't want it.

The ladies watch the plane lift up and dart out of eyesight. Warm wind brushes against them as the engine purrs and pounces on tomorrow. Aya turns to the girl, trying to figure out what the heck to do with this... lostness. Kieran stares at where the ship was last visible and looks like something is caught in her eye; looking closer, it almost seems like a missed opportunity crying alongside a solemn sadness. But of course, it's just the tear that isn't allowed to be shed.

"Come, Kieran," She offers her hand with a smile. "We have much to learn."

"About?" She grumpily flips her bangs out of her eyes and turns to the woman - her eyes soften immediately though, and you can almost see regret twinkling between the shades of brown. Aya shrugs and picks up her feet. She beings to fly as if she was born for it.

The student Lantern looks on in awe. "Ms. Aya-"

"Please, I am Aya. Do not give me a title I am not."

"For people - uh, I mean, humans, I guess? - we call people Mr. or Ms."

"Please, tell me Kieran." She swirls gently on her heels. Lost in following the older lady, she doesn't notice until it's too late that they're headed away from the centralized area called camp. Aya's eyes are a brilliant shade of green, her hair soft and wispy, gently caressing the wind even though there was no breeze. "Do I look human to you?"

_Ugh. _"Honestly Mis- sorry, Aya, _just_ Aya - well, yeah."

"Interesting," the woman muses. She leads the two towards a distant horizon, one yet to be explored by the curious Lantern-wanna be. The travel in a silence that steadily grows awkward; Aya, however, given her short organic life thus far, doesn't notice it.

"Uh, Aya,"

"Yes?"

"Where are we going?"

You can see her smile; unlike most, when Aya smiles, it consumes her face. Nothing wrong with that though - her smile is beautiful. Sincere. Charming. Innocent.

"Do you want the truth?"

"Yes."

"I do not know." She pauses, then starts moving in another direction. "Actually, now I have a destination in mind. Its not too far from here."

"What about Anu?" Kieran's grown compassionate towards the six-ish year old boy, and his smile is contagious.

"Brother Warth is with him."

"Ah."

Silence.

"Aya?"

"Yes?"

"How is it you can fly?"

"Hmmm?"

"Well," Kieran stops trailing the young woman and pulls up next to her. They continue past cliffs and over treetops. "Well, you don't have a ring... how's it you can fly?"

Aya smiles at Kieran and shrugs her robe further up her shoulder. "Astute observation, Kieran. I can fly because of my organic origin."

"And - I'm sorry, but I don't get it - what is your... uh, organic origin?"

"You did indeed research Razer and I, did you not?"  
Kieran rubs her thumb over her ringed finger, a nervous twitch she's developed. "I did, but I didn't understand LANOS. If you don't mind... what happened to you? And him? And the Science Director?"

About a heartbeat passes without words, then Aya releases another flawless smile. "Here."

"Huh?"

"We are here; we have reached our destination."

* * *

_**I've been updating quickly in order to get up to speed with my tumblr's updates; now that everything is together, it'll be a little bit of a slower process 3.**_

**_Heyo to anyone who reads these - feel free to review! I look at all mumble-jumble to help shape my skills!_**

**_xoxo me_**


	13. A Brief Moment of Life

It was death that brought life to Aya, according to the woman herself; it was also death that brought the birth of love into a dying soldier.

It is confusing to her, nine years after having been resurrected. The Alpha Lantern asked why she used that term... resurrected. "Because I lived before."

"How do you know that?"

Aya Greenlight, so acknowledged by the Guardians of the Universe, smiles and sits down at the side of a jagged edge. The edge suddenly dies, and a gentle lake sits beyond their toes and fingers. Aya stretches her dainty legs to just barely reach the water's surface. "Because I have learned that life is not measured by the breaths you take, but the love you make." She turns to Kieran. "Life is not about existence, but rather existing beyond the physical plane. I do not expect you to understand, given that you are young and have yet to experience much in your life, but I hope that you will, someday, feel the power of my words."

Kieran nods and looks away. Its not the breath you take, "Its the breath that's taken away," she mumbles, more to her humanity than to anyone else. "Sorry?" Aya asks.

"Nothing." Kieran reaches for a slice of blue-green grass and plucks the longest from the ground. She rips the roots without a second thought, but her eyes linger on the leafy softness of the little piece of heaven. Aya awaits clarification, and Kieran doesn't notice until a few moments pass; the girl blushes and carries on. "A singer, I can't remember the song right now, said that one time."  
"Ah, a philosopher on Earth?"

"Sure, you can say that."

Kieran plays with the shard of life, bending it to her will and fingering the lily-pad texture. The girl briskly stops though, as a question consumes her. She turns to face Aya ready to ask away, but the young woman already knows the question. It is one of the oldest in the universe, and one that she pondered herself for years before and after death.

Aya's eyes turn glassy as she rests a hand on her expanding abdomen. Her green-tinted-blue skin is vibrant under the sun. She looks into the distance - looks into the future and the past. "Do you know war, Kieran Lucas?"

Kieran pauses, the question caught her off guard. Hesitantly, she answers softly. "Yes."

"Do you know the pain it brings, the sadness that blooms from it?"

A softer "Yes," falls from Kieran's lips. She clears her throat at the silence that follows and releases the shed of grass. It flies away, gently twisting and turning the motherly breeze.

Neither of them can really look at each other, and any ache that Kieran felt from the previous days has evaporated: when your mind is clouded with such thoughts, you will understand. Aya rubs her stomach and pulls her drapings up higher on her shoulder.

"I was born in a laboratory, created to be the greatest artificial intelligence of the universe. I did not know the reason, location, or actual facts of my birth until much later... after I was rescued from Hal and Sargent Kilowog. "

"They rescued you?"

"More like they liberated me. My program was uploaded into the ship that they... apprehended while, mmm, urgently escaping the Guardians."

"I figured that Hal wasn't one to listen to the bosses, but steal a ship? That seems pretty intense!"

"Lanterns were dying out here in Frontier Space. Innocent protectors of the family and friends, simply being killed because of the ring that they wore."

Kieran starts to rub her ring, her nervous twitch, and shots up in attention at that last fact. Aya smiles in reassurance, and for once, Kieran returns the smile after an answer. "Do not worry, Green Lanterns are no longer being hunted out here. However, the threat seems to be rising again."

Kieran swings her legs. "And that threat is?"

"Atrocitus." A silence greets the girls, but Kieran can't keep the festering questions. "Okay, but about you. You and Razer. And the Science Director. So you were the computer, what happened next?"

Aya laughs a little and strokes her stomach. "What happened? I couldn't tell you. Everything and nothing. Absolutely nothing, but we did _ .thing _we could. That doesn't make sense, does it?"

"No."

"Well," Aya looks up into the blanket of blue above them. "We journeyed the stars. We found civilizations and saved a dying species. We saved people all right; we saved as many as we could. We journeyed and dove into the depths of space. It was a wonderful experience."

"But?"

"Mmmm?"

"It sounds like you left something out."

Aya pulls up her sleeve and pulls at her short hair. "Razer was... conflicted about spending time with me. I was curious - far more than curious, actually - and wanted to get to know everyone onboard the _Interceptor_ to the best of my ability. However, when it came to saving Hal and Kilowog one time, I had to merge into Razer's mind."

"Wow," Kieran swings her legs, "I didn't know that mind-stuff was actually possible."

"Oh, its possible." Aya smiles and scoots back a little so she was more comfortable. "You actually have the link as well."

"Huh?"

"You are telepathically linked to the Alpha Lantern network of minds; you can hear the thoughts of your sisters and brothers if you listen."

"No I can't."

"Indeed." Kieran furrows her brows at the woman. "What?" Aya turns to her just as surprised. "What do you mean by what?"

"I mean, when I usually say I can't do something, Hal or Kilowog are quick to jump on me and push me to do it. Why don't you?"  
"Because you actually cannot."

Now Kieran is confused. "I don't get it," she says with a shake of her head. Aya sighs. "You cannot hear the other Alpha Lanterns because there are no others."

Silence again grips them. Kieran clears her throat and tries again. "Ok, so we've all got it. I'm guessing the skill is just... I don't know, asleep in most people. But what did you see that made Razer not want to... be around you?"

"The memory I entered was the most painful he had ever experienced, and it was replaying, over and over again, to soften his body for consumption."  
The girl gasps without words, and Aya nods in confirmation. "The memory was of his deceased lover."

"Oh my god."

"Indeed."

The wind tugs at the girls a little. Kieran pulls her legs tightly into her chest, hugging them like they were Mel. "How can you do this? Do that?"

"I had to save them. A Green Lantern would do no less."

"No, I mean, be in love with him after that? _Invade his mind like that?"_ She looks sharply at Aya, who looks far away into the cloudless sky. "I'm sorry," Kieran recoils, hugging her chin to her chest in guilt, "I just, I-I can't imagine what that's like."

"He will never forget, and nor shall I." Aya reaches over to stroke the girl on the back, who peeks up. "Ilana was his first true love, and when I made myself a body-"

"You made a body for yourself? Out of what, twigs?" Aya chuckles softly. "No, out of the Green Lantern energy that supplied the ship. But I made my body with facial features of Ilana, unaware of the pain it would cause him. I chose her face because it was the last one in my data banks - it was just was for simplicity's sake." She says, cutting off Kieran's question. Aya looks away again. "And he could not see me without seeing her."

"Where'd you go from there?"  
Aya sighed. She's never told the entire story before, and it ached an ache she was not accustomed to. "We amended once he realized I was not her. Something took place the day we saved Oa from the Red Lanterns - you know who they are, right?" Kieran nods eagerly. "Well, something took place that he will not speak of, and since then, he has been... softer... more accepting. I thought the worse was over, but it was far from it."

Aya goes on to explain the Science Director's plan of taking the computer-Aya apart, to which Hal and Kilowog save her again. The terror has never left her, however. Aya shivers at the thought and caresses her stomach. She then talks slowly - carefully - about the Anti-Monitor. Facts were woven into confused emotion in every part of the story where Razer stood to the side. It was a colorful, vivid, yet lifeless tale that told of her trying to wipe all organic life from existence. Kieran sits quietly, absorbing the information. Aya notices her fists curl. The story seems too impossible to be true.

"Are you mad at me?" Kieran shakes her head violently. She sighs and buries her face again between her knees, and her voice came out muffled; Aya had to ask her to re-say whatever she had spoken. "I'm mad at myself," the girl whimpers. Her eyes, too, glass over. Aya looks at her, gently shocked. "Why is that?"  
"Because I've felt the way you felt. I've wanted nothing more than... fire... to, to _burn_. I've wanted for people to die sometimes, and sometimes? Sometimes I got close, so close the only thing pulling me back was... I don't even know, the consequences... maybe."

"What people?"

Kieran brushes her falling hair out of her face. The wind is picking up on the small cliff, and the only answer she can think of is the center of her rage. "My parents," She whispers in guilt, looking away. Aya allows the silence, then clears her throat and continues. She tells of how, when only moments away from destroying all life, Razer could not stop her. She blasted him with a nuclear force strong enough to destroy about a hundred universes. She talks about how he drifted away, into the nothingness of the black, lifeless space. Kieran sits with her hands over her mouth, unable to comprehend the powers being dealt with here.

And Aya explained her end. She explained how it was the only possible solution, because all of life was in peril. Because it was the right thing to do.

"Because a lantern would do no less?" Kieran offers over her broken heart. Aya smiles at the girl, blue eyes bright and big from tears. "Indeed."

By now, they're laying down across the grass, touching the leaves and grass and flowers around them. They've shuffled away for the lake.

Aya clears her throat once more and strokes gently at her cheek, pulling away her tear. And the story continues.


	14. Revival

"To be honest," Aya begins as they stroll through the trees slowly. Kieran looks up at the young woman, awaiting whatever was to come next eagerly. "- I myself do not completely understand what occurred between my death and my resurrection. Razer will sit up at night sometimes deep in the adventures he partook in, and often attempts to explain it all to me. I honestly do not care for his words," she admits with a smile, "I just cannot stand his sadness."

They step over some bramble and around a large stone. For some reason, Aya prefers walking over flying; maybe it hurts her back, but Kieran has no idea. She doesn't question it either. "He occasionally talks about the years he spent-"

"-Years? He spent years searching across the _entire_ _galaxy_, looking for you?" Aya chuckles at Kieran's expression. "Indeed. About four, I'm assuming. But between the years he took on the Blue Lantern's oath and had to endure re-teaching himself how to see everything around him. He stopped on occasion, doing as a Blue Lantern would, and jumped right back to finding me the moment he could." The ground rumbles faintly, and Aya brushes the surface of the planet with her foot. "Have you met Mogo yet?"

"Huh? Oh, no, I haven't met any Mogos."

"Mmm, we must change that. He really gives you a new perspective on life. Anyway, he found himself farther than any sentient being of _any_ Light having journeyed before he realized something that he missed."

"What?" Aya smiles, stroking a large stone with a careless hand. "Well, what did he forget?"

"My father."

The trees whistle in the silence. Kieran was never that good at patients, so she erupts. "Well? Who's your dad?"

"Ion."

"Ay-on?"

"Yes, the first creature to ever encompass will."

"Jeezus! He's still around?"

"Ion was the first creature to will itself to move. Because of that, he became the beacon of the Green Lantern energy." Aya nods to Kieran's blazing ring. "He fuels your ring as well... well, its more like he allows you to shape your will. Uh," She taps her chin, trying to think of a good analogy. Aya tugs her drapings higher up her shoulder. "Think of it as a door - you have the energy to move it, but he provides the key. Does that make more sense?"

Kieran smiles, trying faintly to create a manifestation from her ring. "Yeah, I get that. So what, Razer went to Ion?"

The two girls step over a fallen tree and enter a large, well-beaten path. They walk along it as the story continues. "I already told you that I made my body out of the Green Lantern energy, and that's exactly what happened the second time." It takes the young Alpha to understand her words, but then realization spreads across her face in triumph. "Ah, I get it. You're made from him. He's literally your father? Thats pretty wicked."

Aya nods in encouragement, proud of the girl for understanding. "Razer flew back across the universe trying to reach Oa so he could try and figure out how to... remake me out of Ion's energy, like how it happened the first time. No one knew if I'd come out being the same person, or if I'd come out at all." Aya trudges along the path, head down. "I can't imagine how that must have felt for him."

"I can't either... But it did work, huh?"

"Only after solving a few issues."

"Are you kidding me? When does he get to have a break?"

Aya laughs and the two walk on. "Mountains were built for us to marvel at, and for us to learn to climb. Can you imagine a world, any world, that had no mountains?"

"It'd be boring." Aya smiles faintly. "Indeed."

"But what was Razer's mountain?" They continue along the path and Kieran pauses to take in the scenery; they've journeyed about half way across the lake, and the path trailed away from the water. "Do you know the different lantern colors?"

"I know the green and blue ones, and you've mentioned the red ones. Razer used to be a red one - red came from rage."

"Yes. Green is willpower, Blue is hope, and Red is rage. However, there are more than three colors in the universe. The Zamarons are the Star Sapphires, and they control the power of love, which comes in violet. One that was recently discovered was a darkness."

"A darkness? You mean, like grey or brown?"

"No, Black."

They trudge along the path. The wind picks up, stealing a flower in Aye's hand. It seemed more like she let it go, but you never know; its one of those things you don't bother caring to question. The topic, however, was something to dare. "But there's no such thing... if you think about it."

"No such thing of what?"

"Actual blackness. I mean, complete black is impossi-"

"Kieran, a darkness can be found in everyone, but what you can't do is touch the darkness. You can't express it fully. The dark, the black of this, this... this madness... cannot be compared."

"Whats the black?"

"What is the black? The black is death, Kieran Lucas, the black is the burn of ice that rises from the ashes of death. The black is the hand that takes away souls."

Kieran envisions a gigantic hand reaching down upon them, blocking out the sun, cackling like the Grim Reaper, and burning everything within sight. She blinks and stares directly into the sun above. A bird flies across, cutting off the light, but it flickers back. You never really notice how beautiful the sun is until it's taken from you.

"What do people call the blackness?" the girl asks, glancing back at Aya before looking down to step over a stone.

"We have no name for it thus far. It is simply known as the Black energy. It came down on Oa on Razer's second day with the council. Razer sat with the guardians of Oa to convince them to give him access to the Central Power Battery."

"The center of the Green Lantern Corps."

"Correct; however, he overlooked a small detail."

"Oh?"

"The council was not aware that Ion lived within the battery." She sees amazement cross Kieran's face, and pulls up her drapes again. She tugs at her hair and continues along the path. "The Science Director, now known as Scar, was one of few who knew Ion's location."

"Ion _is_ the battery." Kieran offers, peeking into the woman's past.

"More or less. The Black knew this fact and wanted the energy. Do not give me that look - I know not where their knowledge came from.

The black invaded because it wanted to consume all of the Lantern Corps. Willpower, believe it or not, tends to be what drives existence forward."

"That and curiosity." Aya thinks about Kieran's thoughts before smiling again at the girl. "I never saw it that way, but I feel that is correct. Yet life has not figured out how to harness the power of curiosity, so Death set its sight on Will."

Aya falls silent, her mind steadily sorting out the facts she's collected by Razer. She pages through the memories of late nights and early mornings when the space beside her was but a bare breath. She remembers taking the sheets around her waist and finding her husband lost in thought, staring into the dim-lite sky. Sometimes it looked like he wanted something, something out of reach... other times, it looked like he had everything he could ever ask for.

Kieran's mind runs across the story like a freight train - rampant and lost in the destruction. She can almost hear the defiant battle cries and the roars of pain; the sounds tickle at her heart like a gentle leaf, but leaves a scar.

"How many died?"

"Many."

"But how did-"

"The battle raged, life and death attempting at one another like roaring oceans or clashing divinities. But when one fell on the side of the Green Lanterns, another rose in the ashes of the dead."

"People were fighting their friends. Oh my god, they were fighting their... their neighbors... their families... their friends..."

"Indeed." Kieran slowly folds her legs so she sits on a protruding stone. Aya turns around, noticing how she lost her companion, and sits down beside her. She rubs her stomach.

"I imagine the others will speak of this to you more in detail, since I was in wake of my existence."

"You were reborn... during that battle?"

"One Guardian of the Universe, one I do not know by name or face, assisted Scar on occasion and knew a fraction of Ion's capabilities. At first, he wanted to raise an army to put down the black threat. Razer stopped him though." She scratches her throat here and tugs at her short hair. "Ra-Razer argued that a new army was... inhumane. That it was morally wrong to bring beings to life just to fight. The Guardian heeded Razer's words and used Razer's memories to shape a life before Ion. Ion denied the request."

"I didn't know he could talk."

"He can't, or... at least we don't know his language. But he knows the language of all, and in a voice we heard across our hearts. He said no."

Kieran breaks in after the small pause. "Wait. You said _'we_ heard.'"

Aya smiles at the girl, tears coming to life in her eyes. "He pulled the spark from Razer that was me and pulled me from him. I was reborn and I heard his denial." She chuckles softly, tugging at her tunic. "I also remember him saying that... oh, what was it... life... that, life thrives within us all. He told me through my every bone all my blood that I was alive because I willed myself to exist. That the living part of me never left him."

Kieran stretches and leans back, looking at the sky. Clouds start to clutter the distance threatening rain, but she doesn't mind. Aya continues, looking forward and lost in memory. "I fell into him - I couldn't believe it, I mean, my first thought was "why am I falling? I never fall'." She laughs and rubs her abdomen. "Then I looked up and saw him, and everything... _everything_ came back to me. Come, we should start heading back to camp."

They slowly stand and being retracing their steps. Aya flashes a smile at the Alpha. "I was hoping we'd find Iggy, but perhaps Anu will have you meet him tomorrow."

"Iggy?"

"A creature that lives beneath us. He made this path."

Kieran squeals, incapable of controlling her voice, and leaps from the path. She points a shaky finger at the walkway that they patrolled. "This... thi-this path was made... by something... huge!"

"Indeed. Anyway," Oblivious to Kieran's shock, Aya continues with the story. "I was reborn, but the effort to bring me back pulled the life-force of the Guardian in. That small, noble soul died bringing me to life."

Kieran trots to catch up with Aya. "Jeez," she mumbles. Taking a peek at Aya again, Kieran can see only a kindled reflection shining off of her. "He died to bring me back to life." She coughs, excuses herself, and continues. "Because his life force was taken, a part of him was thrust into me."

"So you're a.. Guardian? You're a Guardian of the Universe?"

"I'm a daughter of Ion and a sister of the Council. I have the abilities of other Guardians - to an extent, of course - to do as they do. However, I chose to use those skills in a different way. I used the energy - combined with Razer's - and combated the Black."

The images of the two standing shoulder-to-shoulder and charging into a looming blackness sends chills down Kieran's spin; she throws in the idea that they were holding hands while saving all of life, and it eases her heart.

"Did The Black lose?"

"No, death comes day by day. However, those who rested peacefully returned to sleep. The Black left and has not been found since."

"And you can hear the Guardians? You can hear their mind-talk?"

"A little. It is faint, like a whisper in the wind, but it _is_ there. Longer, larger whispers sing so it's hard to differentiate between them all."

"Like?"

"My love for Razer. My love for Anu. My love for the life growing within me." She strokes her stomach with a face no one can describe. Pride? Joy? She continues as they round a few trees. "Kieran, we all have a place in the universe. It may be hard to understand now, but things do get better."

"Oh? Sorry, but I have a hard time believing that."

Aya smiles over her shoulder. "Life thrives, young Alpha Lantern. Souls bloom and hearts melt. Find your whisper, and you will understand what I'm talking about."


	15. Origins

The two girls reach the clearing as the sun begins its descent, having chatted the day away. Once the stories of space were over, Aya ended the silence with some questions about the girl so far from home. Kieran steadily grows numb inside as she considers talking about her home; her brows furrow, her jaw tightens, and her heart loosens. Kieran's eyes fall to the ground and the moments pass by quietly. "Well?"

"Well what?"

"Well your home. You know me, and my understanding of girl talk suggests that you too would converse about yourself. Tell me who Kieran is."

"Kieran is just a girl," she shrugs, dragging her feet a little. Where the flicker of confidence rested in her every movement is now a vacant space. The warmth that helps Anu catch butterflies and scuttlebugs wasn't there, the flame of a soldier wasn't there. It was but a spark of dying defeat.

"Kieran, hold on." The girl sighs and spins a little on her heels to face Aya. She folds her arms across her chest and pries a little at a few loose strands of hair. Aya settles down on a stone climbing from the ground like a thrown born of the land. Kieran keeps standing, so Aya tries from a different approach. "Where are you from?"

"A little town by San Francisco."

"And San Francisco is well known?"

"very well known. People from all over come to look at the 'Bridge or go shopping in Chinatown. Personally, I like the area, but it's not as cool as I think tourists think of it."

"Why do you say that?"

Kieran shuffles her feet, kicking at the dirt. She looks over her shoulder at an invisible eye bearing her down. "I see a lot more of the bad than the good, I guess."

Aya nods and fingers a gentle leaf. The heart trees blossom from around, encasing them in a safe place where only the stars look down at them. A few stars awaken from their sleep in the heavens with groggy eyes. Aya presses on, gently though. "What is your home's name?"

"San Jose."

"San Fran...sisco and San... Jose. Is every town a San?"

"Heh, no. We've got Danville and Oakland and Napa and Sacramento. We've got more than you can count, but the biggest one is San Francisco. Its only the big things that count."

"I disagree. The little things make life beautiful. And your home-"

"San Jose? its not too bad-"

"I mean your actual house. Your friends, your family. Paint them for me."

Kieran's legs grow stiff from the gentle lostness inside of her. She sinks to a rock being hugged by a tree's roots. "Mom and Dad aren't the greatest. I mean, they aren't bad people, they work awful hard and all. They just..." she sighs and rubs her head. Aya cocks her hair to the side, light hair gently getting tousled in the warm breeze. "They do not parent."

Kieran clears her throat. "No, they don't. They drink, they drink a lot. They yell, too. They're divorced now too but won't live apart cause Dad's job is the only one that's really stable. I can't stand it. Jared couldn't stand it." She adds more to herself than anything else, but her grief washes over her. Aya gently peels back the layers of Kieran's shell. "Jared is your... brother?"

"Yes. Was. Jared _was_ my brother. Jared's not here anymore." She laughs weakly. "Imagine telling Mels what the heck I'm doing, explaining our house to an _alien_. On another planet, sitting on a rock from another planet. Breathing different air. Learning how to... protect, just because I have this... thing... on my hand." She runs her thumb over her ring and finally meets Aya's eyes. The Alpha's eyes are red, but no tears have fallen. Yet.

She clears her throat. and looks away. "Shouldn't we be heading back to camp?" Aya waves the thought away. "They will understand if dinner is a little late. Besides, Saint Walker has probably already begun cooking." Kieran looks down. "Keep talking, little bird." The girl peeks back up at the expecting mother. "I feel that you need this."

"Marb- sorry, Jared - got into trouble a lot. More than me or Mels. Mels is still awful young, she barely remembers Jared anyway. I think that's one of the hardest parts." She pulls at her hair, combing it through with tired, shaking hands. "Telling Mels about Jared. It's not easy. But he was a good guy, a great brother." She looks back at Aya, who hasn't moved an inch. Its as if she's trying to reassure Aya - or herself - of that fact constantly. "He just... didn't handle home very well. He got with the gangs and got into the drugs, but it was normal for anyone his age, I mean, a lot of people during summer got into drugs. I can't even remember what it was: coke, weed? Heck, I think those are the same." She chuckles a sob.

"But then I asked Marbles to stop. He said he wouldn't though, 'cause the drugs would pay for college. A local college might take him if he passed high school, so all he needed was the money. We both knew it wouldn't go to him. He wanted to be a mechanic. The money's all flushed down, away, just for some damn drinks. I told Marbles to stop, cause some others his age were getting caught. He said no." Her voice falters. Her eyes flicker up and around, her hands shake. She clears her throat again. "He said no. I didn't try hard enough and he said no."

"You blame yourself."

"Because it _is _my fault," the strength flies back into her as she snarls at the woman across the little clearing. Kieran softens again when she meets Aya's eyes and looks immediately away. "Because its my fault," she chokes out. Her breath is as shaky as her hands, but the trembling of her body ceases as if it was never there. She looks up again, this time to stare at the stars; her eyes saw something that made her fall into herself. Deep in her core, she felt the calm hands of her brother holding her. She heard him yelling back at their parents, she heard the creaks of him leaving the house at night.

She saw the body with the blanket over him. In the darkness of that day - a Tuesday, if she remembers correctly - her brother was dead. His gang members, though, knew her name, knew her face. They weren't done.

She is regained, her pose straightens her back. Her eyes are red yet fierce. Kieran looks at Aya with a broken heart, but balled fists pressing the pieces together - you'd almost have imagined that nothing happened.

Almost believe that all was well.

"You wanted your parents dead. Not your brother?" Kieran's eyes grow confused by Aya's ponder. "He caused you much stress and grief." Kieran scratches at the back of her head with both hands and thrusts them forward. She bites her lip and inspects her nails. "They made him into the monster. It wasn't his fault." When she peeks up, a single tear runs down her cheek.

"When you said you were the Monitor, the Anti of everything, you wanted everything dead. Because life was a flaw, because life didn't matter, because people are disgusting." Her lip quivers. Aya blinks. "Yes."

"I've wanted that."

"But you have not."

"Killed? No, I've come close. I've yelled and fought and run through the streets, but never killed."

"You've had the chance to."

This was met by a pause. A shaky breath.

"Yes. I stood over Him."

"And you walked away."

"Yes."

"Why?"

Pause. A creature hurries between her feet.

"Because I can overcome them. And I did. The fear of others is not a fear of mine. I see their problems and I can do something about them. I don't have to react like Marbles did."

"Because you knew you were better than that. You had the will to step back."  
"Because I _needed_ to step back; I still had to care for Mels."

"And that is why you did not kill the one who killed your brother?"

"Aya, I stood over that guy and he... he _shrank_. He shriveled up into a _child_, a boy! I saw his fear. I saw my fear, in him. I wanted to drop everything and... an-and shrink up, like him. I wanted to become nothing. I-I didn't just want to kill, I wanted to... to kill myself. Ms. Aya, that so-called "will" to not take him then and there...that isn't just why I didn't kill Spencer. That is why I'm still alive, why I didn't kill myself."

* * *

Awwww people are reading this?! You guys, it means the world to me! Evenso, I want to slow down releasing chapters.

OK SO this is almost the official end of PART I of this whole thing. AKA its got a long way to go :) and the sappiness is really gonna start being left behind. Now, the next three parts are still emotion based, but we're almost clear of it. Once that happens, I think you guys will be happy to see the action start taking place.

Honestly thank you guys so much! Lemme have reviews and comments and complaints PLEASE. Have at it with questions or anything too

mmmmk thats about it hang tight


	16. Happy Lines

Kieran Marie Lucas cried until her tear ducts felt broken, all the while in the arms of a cooing Aya Greenlight. When she regained herself, she apologized. Aya waved the apology away as if talking about their plans for supper, to which they pondered over as they made their way back to camp.

Anu, more than happy to see his girlfriend-sister and mother, throws himself at them from a tree. He kicks and squeals as Kier swoops over to pick him up, fighting to regain his freedom and dignity. Aya asked him to mind his manners, and he settles down easily. Once arranged in the younger girl's arms, he leans over to kiss his mom on the cheek; his fingers are tangled in the Alpha's curls, trying to comb through them. "Ma-Ay, Brother Warth was worried where you went and gonna look but-" He trails off, going on and on in some incomprehensible babble about his days activities. Aya smiles the entire time and nods her head. Kieran's hair becomes even more messy, fitting the tear-stained cheeks Anu was oblivious to. But the boy then turns his attention back to his carrier.

"Kiriiin?"

"Yeessss?"

"Are you happy?"

She opens her mouth to answer then closes it, looking at the boy fondly. She can't think of an answer that is appropriate, true, and understandable. "I... I guess you could say I'm happy. Why?"

"You have happy lines on your face, they almost look like mine, see?" He points to his cheek at where his tribal tattoos stretch across the soft skin. He takes the same finger - his other hand is well buried on the brambles of her hair - and traces the places where tears once were. For a moment, Anu's alien face flashes away and is replaced with a little girl the human left at home. She sees her sister in her arms, eyes bright and heart innocent. It almost makes her want to cry all over again; Anu and Mels nearly share the same eye color too.

"K'rin?" The girl clears her throat and blinks a few times before smiling back at the boy. "What, little tiger?"

"Do you like my happy lines?"

"I _envy_ your happy lines."

Aya reaches for her son but he cries out since his little fingers are still snarled in Kieran's hair. The human expertly untangles the squirming fist and releases him to his mother. "What is a tiger?" Aya asks as they keep going. "It's a creature on Earth, I think in India. It's a king of the forest." She makes her way so she's walking behind Aya, where a curious Anu watches the world disappear over her shoulder. His curiosity lights his little face as he watches Kieran emphasize her story. "Where's Indiana?"

"India is the thickest forest on Earth - once you enter the forest, you can never leave."

"Why?"  
"It's a huge maze, and only little princes and princesses know how to get out of the jungle."

"How big is it?"  
"Its never-ending! It stretches from here-" Kieran extends and arm in one direction, "to here." her other arm reaches as far out as it can. Anu giggles as he reaches for her closest hand, the one with the alien ring on it. "T's not _that_ big!"

"Oh? Have you been to India?"

"Yes!"  
Kieran chuckles. "And how did you get out?" Anu throws his arms up. "I'm a prince!"

"Do you know the prince secret then?" His face drops as he realizes that he's been caught red-handed in a lie.

"What?"

"A prince of India can only get out of the forest if he has a tiger with him. The tiger knows not only the way out, but the way to gold and food, monkeys and parrots. The tiger is magic." She waves her hands around to emphasize the power of a tiger as the boy's eyes light up. "Was a tiger look like?" he asks, resting his baby face in his baby hands. She just realizes that the kid has to be about four... right? He bounces up and down with the stride of his adopted mother.

Kieran winks. "I'll show you when we get back to camp. Has Saint Wal-"

"I wanna see it now," he perks up, almost falling out of Aya's arms as he tries to scramble over her shoulder into the girl. Aya tightens her grip on the boy and heaves him so the kid faces forward. "Anu, baby, what about manners? Beside, Ms. Kieran's tired and hungry. You interrupted her, say sorry."

"S'rry Ms. Kieri."

"Its alright," she smiles, ruffling his hair. "I'll draw you a picture when we get back, okay?"

"You won't make it with the green?"

"Oh, no." She looks away with a hint of guilt and rubs the ring with her thumb. Anu cocks his head to the side. "Why?"

"Becau-"

"- Brother Anu, I believe I asked you for a flower." Brother Warth comes down at them from above. He nods to Aya, who smiles at the uncle-like figure for her son. She plants his feet on the ground and he teeters a few steps before spinning around to look at Warth. "Sorry!" He turns to Kieran, arms outstretched like an airplane. "Come with me?"

"Where?"

"Flower picking!" Warth smiles - if that's even possible for an elephant - and bows slightly for Kieran. "Some new ones to decorate our eating space would make everything much more lovely. It would also welcome home our brothers in space."

"Are they back?" Aya livens her step at the idea that her husband is back. She strokes her growing stomach, but pauses as she notices the reply from Warth. He doesn't sound sad in any way, shape or form, but Aya takes it as if telling her she's killed a puppy. "No, not yet. It shouldn't be long now." His thick Indian-type accent drifts through the air like a surfer to a warm breeze. Kieran's attention is robbed away by a tug at her arm. Anu looks up at her with eyes the size of the moon. "Come?"

She smiles at the little boy and grips his little fingers. "Coming."

As the two start walking into the trees and off the path, Aya can almost hear Anu questioning the Alpha's "Happy Lines." The boy makes the human promise that she will let him paint happy lines on her, she just needs to show him a tie-gurr first. Warth clears his throat and offers an arm to lead Aya back to camp.


	17. Princes and Promises

"What kind of flowers do you usually pick?"

"Purple ones."

"Why?"

"B'cause Uncle Hal has green and Uncle Kil...kilo..*merf* Kilowog has green and Saint Walker has blue and Brother Warf" (Oh, so you're a fan of Star Trek, huh?) "Has blue and Pa-Ra has blue and Ma-Ay has green-blue and uh... uh, you have green."

"Nice answer." The boy continues his death grip and tramples over the fallen branches and leaves, dragging the girl awkwardly behind. She doesn't mind though. She's dealt with worse.

"Purple is my fav-rit. The Zamm-mmam-morons have purple."

"Do they now?"

"They have purple and they wear it with smiles, but no smile lines. They don't wear a lot. I think people without smile lines look funny-" Anu looks up at his content prisoner. "-You won't tell Uncle Hal or Uncle Kilowog that, right?"

She picks him up by the hand and swings him around, getting few giggles out of her short guide. "You're secret is safe with me."

"I'm your tiger!"

"Oh, I guess so." The story Kieran told the boy about five minutes ago wasn't entirely true, but it was a story Jared would tell her when she couldn't sleep. She found herself in later years doing the same thing with Mels, and it just kinda felt natural for her to share it. She smiles at the boy. "Wait, do you want to be the prince or the tiger?"

"Can I be both?"  
"If you're both, then what am I?"

"The forest." He releases his grip of Kieran and picks up a large branch, swinging it around as though swatting at an invisible foe. As the barbaric Anu leaps over a small stream, his sword accidentally is thrust into a nearby tree, and those puppy-dog eyes of his swell up. He looks back over his shoulder at Kieran and she hushes him, praying that the waterworks don't start. "Oh Anu, it's alright! Lets get you a different sword!"

"I don' wanna different sword!"

"Then why are you crying?" the boy sobs outwardly.

"My sword's gone!"  
"What are you talking about? I see it right here." She kneels and picks up the stumpy shaft. She brushes his hair out of the his large, blue alien eyes and almost laughs at how pathetic the situation was. She takes the branch and fingers it, looking away from the boy so he doesn't see her muffled chuckles. "Let's see, this is your sword, huh?" She drums it with her fingers as Anu wipes at his cheeks stubbornly. She meets his eyes. "Then let's see if we can make it fit for a prince."

She straightens her legs and uses both hands to feel the surface of the broken weapon of mass destruction. The wood is hearty yet gentle to the finger, the two remaining leaves not nearly as old as they should have been. She looks up and around the treetops as if the answer lay tucked away. "What'r you doing?" Anu's stubborn voice speaks up over his short sniffles. "I'm looking for a friend."

"Huh?"

"This branch," she lowers to his eye level again, holding it out between the small space that separated them, "didn't just fall off. See here? It was chewed off by little bitty teeth. We have a friend in the trees somewhere."

"Maybe it was a ponysquirrel."

"Huh?"

"Maybe it was a ponysquirrel." She laughs outwardly; the gesture insults Anu, and he folds his stubborn arms across his barrel-y chest. She pulls at her hair and apologizes warmly to the child. "Oh tiger, I'm not laughing at you! Its the name of the animal... a, a what was it, a horserat?"

"A ponysquirrel." He frowns and wrinkles his nose. "What's a horserat? It sounds funny."

"Its almost as funny sounding as me," she carries on, looking around for anything that might have made the branch fall; now that she thinks about it, the branches seem to be tickling the trees. Anu giggles and stands up. "Is it as funny looking as you?"

"What? Do I look that weird to you?" She spins around looking at the child. She softens immediately and a smile stretches across her - its weird, smiling so much after eight days of wanting to die. Its a nice transition don't get me wrong, but it feels... funny, believe it or not.

"Oh, it looks just as silly as me, plus a little more goofy." Kieran carries on readdressing the matter at hand. She swings the branch around, testing its aerodynamics. It doesn't pass the test.

"What'r you gon' do with my sword?"

"Make it a princes sword, hold on."

An emerald fire sits behind her heart, tucked away and hidden from the violence of the natural world. Reaching into the fire, the girl draws out a strand of power, which licks at her fingertips as she struggles to channel it out her arm.

The world is silent; the ground holds its breath. Anu even waits in anticipation, silent for a good ten seconds before losing all hope. "This is boring!"

"But this is good, Little Brother." Kieran loses concentration, not before her arm is encased in a green saliva. A struggling spark ignites from the tip of her ring and combusts as fast as it came to life. Kieran turns to face Saint Walker with a look of mystified awe.

"I believe you were looking for flowers."

"But Walk- er, sorry, Saint Walker - look! Did you see that?"

"Indeed I did, Sister. Now, let us try another approach." Strolling over with grace, Saint Walker collects the girl's hands in his own and looks in her eyes. "Sister, try not to take away from your energy."

"Huh?"

"The energy of a lantern comes from a core source, I assume you've felt it by now?"

"The little fire, that's what you call it? The core source? Well yeah, I just got it. I mean, I've always had it, but I haven't been able to.. I don't know, tap into it 'till now."

"Do not take away from the power, allow it to flow through you." The mushroom man folds to the ground and expertly crisscrosses his legs and looks at the girl expecting her to follow his lead. Anu seems to understand what's going on - he springs up, teeters over, and plants himself roughly next to the Blue Lantern. Hesitantly, Kieran does the same. She almost forgets the green sliding up and down her arm; its kinda gross, actually - her skin tingles as if on fire, but a rush of ice floods her arm. With steady breathing, the girl takes a seat beside the two.

Saint Walker's wise eyes close slowly, as if inhaling and falling immediately asleep. Anu's head is on a swivel, taking in the world around him; maybe he doesn't quite grasp the concept of meditation.

"Allow the stillness within you to remain still; allow the world around you to continue moving into eternity. Permit the forest to whisper and the lakes to sing. Do you allow life to continue?" The girl takes a deep breath, "Yes."

"Then allow the fire to consume you. Allow the fire to burn across your corners and your plains. Permit the fire to become you, but do not give yourself to the fire. Feed the fire with your soul, but do not allow it to engulf you. Keep your head above the water and tread so you remain with us. Stay with us, Sister, stay with us.

Make it a slow process, allow the water to roll across your feet. Allow the stillness to breath on. Breath, you have been holding your breath. Feel the elements walk along your skin, free your senses. Breathe my sister, breathe."

The luxury of his soothing voice almost makes Kieran drift to sleep. It's similar to learning a form of art or another language; you may not understand the power of simple words unless you are the victim of them. The human girl sits still and slowly collapses on herself, allow the senses to absorb and the world to roll away. She can feel the dirt crawl, she can smell the sweet aura of the glowing flowers and blooming trees. She can hear Anu wheeze slightly and him swat at a little gnat that perched itself on his nose.

Wait, in the shadows. If you listen long enough, open your ears wide enough... the girl could almost hear the ants marching along, loyal to the needs of survival. The gentle drumming of a fluttering hummingbird with glowing yellow eyes greets her ears. Wait, was that a clip-clop in the trees? I guess so.

The green rolls from her core to her eyes, tumbling slowly like fog across a graveyard. It rises and expands, stretching to touch everything within grasp.

But that grasp - it tightens. The fire begins to flicker as if tempted by a inner demon trying to digs its claws into her. You can almost hear the laughter... or is it the quickening pace of a frantic heartbeat?

"Remain with us by breathing, Sister Kieran. Allow the senses, grant them access into you. Do not allow them to become you. Tread the water and stay with us Sister."

She takes a deep, shaky breath and tries to relax her body even more. But you can't relax after chugging a gallon of coffee. You can't pause when adrenaline races from a brain coated over in laxative energy. He back sharpens, her eyes wrench shut. Her fingers curl tighter - _tighter_ - until her short nails dig into the innocence of her palms. The green from her arm rises and becomes thicker; it forms the green no longer of tinted water, but of a dense forest.

Yet she breathes. Yet Saint Walker tries to walk her through the battle of power. His words begin to drown in the power that swirls within her mortal walls. And the sounds of her labored breath stops. The Blue Lantern peaks with a single eye; he will never show it, for a beacon of hope shows _nothing_ but hope, but he is worried. Hal indeed briefed him of the variables of this girl, he knew what dangers could be lying in wait. Anu watches in fascination and reaches out to touch the girl. When he does, the emerald eyes of a human snap open.

Those pupils brown by nature cannot be seen. The entire optic is glazed over in vibrant green.

And as the image of an innocent boy comes to life, the girl sees no faces. Kieran is held hostage of the future.

Those green eyes snap back, thrusting her chin to the heavens. Saint Walker breaks concentration and reaches for her two arms - cold as ice yet blazing like a star - and yanks away by the sensation of raw power. "Come back Sister, come back." His voice is commanding and his eyes are stern, but he does not show fear nor worry.

The human does not hear him. She can't, over the pulse of a ripping heart. Anu's vision stays petrified in her and morphs into a scream - _a screaming shadow._ She sees the boy collapse and vile red spills from his little body.

The girl sees her sister get beaten by her parents. The girl sees rapid visions of Hal and Kilowog being tormented, of Aya sobbing with empty hands and a flat stomach. Of Razer spitting plasma from his cold heart in bitter fury. She sees the fear and the rage, the will and the hope,

The lost hope, though, is what stands out.

And the images flood from her. As quickly as the surge began its siege, the power evaporates and the green diminishes.

Kieran vigorously rubs her eyes before re-opening them. Saint Walker stars at her, inches away, mouth agape. Anu watches from behind the Saint, curious as ever, but a little timid.

Bro'Dee brushes at the girl's hair with the back of his hand. A musky whisper escapes him in the hour of fear. "Kieran, are you okay?"

"I, I *cough* - I think so." She peeks deeper into Saint Walker. Why hadn't he been in her crazy visions?

But the visions swarm her memory, and she turns away and tries to stand. Flashes of Anu crippled over the ground plagues her. Walker stands besides her, holding her in concern. "Sister, are you alright? Do you feel dizzy?" He peeks down to look her in the eye, his voice falls low. "What did you see?"

"Nothing. I saw... I saw nothing."

A moment passes and she recollects herself, kneeling in the twigs and breathing until her heart stopped trying to break from her chest. Anu stands in front of her, and it takes a moment before Kieran has the strength to look him in the eye. She offers a weak smile. "Hey partner. You okay?"

He nods violently, mouth hanging open a little. She smiles again and runs a hand through his hair. "I guess the sword will have to wait another day, if that's okay with you."

His head is thrust up and down, but his eyes never leave her's. She frowns at him. "What's up, Tiger?"

"I think I'm okay being a prince without a sword. Flowers look cooler anyway." He leans forward on his tippy-toes and kisses her gently on the forehead. The girl basks in the little child's kindness. "Don't go in the forest without a tiger tho, okay?"

She smiles and stands straight up. Her fingers curl automatically around Anu's, her eyes meet Saint Walker; because of the mental ordeal of the day, her body feels ready to fall apart. Hopefully, Kilowog won't be back for a while.

She looks back down at her tiger. "Alright, I promise."


	18. To Be Seen

It was a relaxing dinner without Hal's constant quirks, but the tension was evidently still there. For the most part, no one was worried about whether or not the crew would come back - it was guaranteed that they would, right?

Saint Walker, perched on his little mound and strumming away overlooking his small family, couldn't help but wonder about the human girl Jordan had brought with him. He felt concern for the girl's well being as well as the people around her... but mainly for her. He plays a few notes and ponders over the life she has yet to become as well as the lives she will undoubtedly take.

_Perhaps she did have a purpose here on Odym. _

Without Hal's stories and Kilowog's tales, Brother Warth used the open atmosphere of supper to share some of his own stories. His home was vast and his people kind. His land forgiving and the skies dense with blue fog. According to him, hope came from everyone and everything, even the rock Anu stood up on.

"Everything, really? Do all your people believe that?"  
"All who consider themself of the people." His strong accent lulls the girl as she rolls a fresh s'more. "We believe in giving ourselves to those around us, and if everything you can give is _indeed_ given, then you have but nothing to fear. Then you have but nothing to feel angst about; give and you shall receive."

"What about those who don't receive?"

"What do you mean?" The man of Sector 2 looks at her with a friendly and puzzled look. Kieran almost is startled by the sincerity of his confusion. "What about those who don't give back? Don't you have any of those?" Warth scratches at his broad head. "No, I have never met one unwilling. Give and you shall receive, bring and it shall be returned. Hope comes from everyone and thus hope exists in everything of tomorrow."

"That's pretty deep. Do you teach that to your kids?"

"Indeed, but the tribe is in charge of teaching the children how to behave and how to believe."

"I wanna be in a tribe!" Anu says, looking up at Warth. Warth blinks warmly. "Why, you are little brother. We all are. We are of the tribe of the cosmos."

Kieran keeps rotating the s'more; she can't decide if she's going to ignore the madness of the talking elephant, or if she's actually going to try and find her reason to hope.

Since she's on a planet light years away from home roasting a s'more, she considers the odds of things. _Have at it, Warth._

The Blue Lantern uses a large hand to etch some lines into the ground. "We are all connected, do you not see?"

"Nope!"

"When our sparks are made, we are the result of love between a mother and father. Our spark thrives as long as we allow it to, and we allow it to by living another day. Where is your spark, little brother?"

"Here!" He thrusts his hand into his chest, proud as hell that he knows where his heart is. Warth smiles so large it looks like it will consume his face. "And where does your spark glow?"

Anu doesn't know how to answer, so he looks at the stars for a hint. Warth peeks up at Kieran. "And you, Sister? Do you know where the spark glows?" The girl just shrugs and pries off the marshmallow. Warth waits patiently and his eyes never leave her. She doesn't notice until a few heartbeats pass and the blood rushes to her face as she realizes that he's awaiting her answer. "Uh, if I get where this story is going, everywhere?"

"You listen very well for someone unwilling."

"_Unwilling_? Isn't will the reason why I'm here?" She aggressively presses another marsh onto the stick. There is silence. Anu seems to have forgotten about the subject at hand and crawled over to his Ma-Ay, who sits to the side trying to untangle some knots in her short mane. "You guys keep giving me mixed messages. Are you going to tell me next that Facebook is a lie?"

"You have much on your mind."

"Yeah, you could say that."

"A heart cannot thrive if it does not open its arms."

"Sorry, but you lost me."

"I think you have been lost for quite some time, Sister Kieran." She looks up at him with aged eyes. _Am I really that easy to look through?_ She plucks the s'more off and chews thoughtfully, avoiding the message Warth was trying to convey.

"Sister?"

"Hhmmmmm?"

"It is a lot to understand, but I have hope that you will overcome your grief."

She swallows the sweetness, but it goes down roughly. "What makes you think I'm grieving?"

"Grief is the only true form of pain, and one cannot overcome pain."

"Then how the he-" She peeks over at Anu, "heck am I supposed to overcome it, if you just said it can't be overcome?"

"Overcome? Oh no, I spoke incorrectly. When you embrace it, the pain will subdue, like a storm to a breeze. Open the arms of your heart sister, and all will be well."

"I have yet to see that possible."

"What? That all will be well? It is the undeniable truth."

"A truth that has yet to happen."

"But it will happen."

"And you know that, because-?"

"We have the will, we have the skill." The man raises his arms to the heavens, beckoning to everything in existence. "We have the ability and the compassion, but most of all, we have the love and the hope, dear sister. If you give everything to The Connection, all will be well."

"We'll see."

"Will you ever allow hope into your heart? Will you allow tomorrow to come, and have the strength to welcome it with open arms?"

"No, not tomorrow. Tomorrow is a lie." He straightens at this comment, but she doesn't see the sympathy glistening in his eyes. She's too busy avoiding the reality that her s'more was about to fall off the stick. She curses as it plops off.

Despite the lostness of the girl, Brother Warth sees the potential in her. He smiles and folds his legs to begin meditation. "We will see."

* * *

I FEEL BAD BECAUSE I HAVE OVER 15,000 WORDS ALREADY FOR THE NEXT SEVEN CHAPTERS

AND I'M TRYING TO SPACE IT OUT SO YOU GUYS AREN'T MADE AT ME WHEN I'M GONE FOR VACATION

BUT THIS THING... CALLED "SELF-CONTROL"... I LACK

OH GODS BELOW AID ME IN THIS CRISIS


	19. By Their Backs

Kieran woke up the next morning to the strongest burst of wind she had ever been victim of; perhaps it was because the _Moc Eight_ was landing beside the tree she was sleeping in.

Basic survival is really only applied logics - if you can think it, you can build it. It also helps if you've been kicked out of the house for a night to know how to sleep in the neighborhood park where people can't see you. She didn't need much to build a cocoon-type hammock in the tree and it wasn't all that comfortable sleeping on a branch, but it was cozy and it worked. Late last night, Aya had an unconscious Anu slung over her shoulder and a smile across her face. "Since the ship is gone, would you like to stay with us for the night? Our house is very nice, we built it ourselves."

"No thank you. Both brothers offered the same thing, but I don't want to invade."

"Oh Kieran," Aya laughed softly, "I don't think you understand the word 'invade' too well."

"Either way I could use some alone time, if you don't mind." Aya hesitates, worried about what alone time could do to the girl, and bows gently to her wishes. Before she is out of earshot, she tries one more time to reach out to Kieran. "Kier." The girl looks up from her makeshift nest of twigs and leaves. "I am always here for you. If you ever need to talk-"

"Thank you, Aya. But I think I am just fine on my own."

Reluctantly, the woman left as her son snuggled deeper into the crook of her arm. He clings to her like a soul would to its lifeline and yawns. Aya kissed his forehead and disappears between the shadows.

But the wind ceases to stop, and the girl angrily opens her eye to see an emerging giant. Anyone would have fallen out of the tree, so don't judge.

The human does get her feet beneath her as she falls, it just _staying_ on her feet that doesn't work. She gently plops down as the retracting feet of the ship hugs the earth - jk, surface.

Razer is first to fly out - he dashes for his house like a puppy to its returning master. Hal walks out next with Kilowog in tow, and despite having fallen out of her bed, Kieran waves at the men and heaves herself to her feet.

Hal looks her up and down as she approaches. "You slept on the ground?"

"In the tree." She points at the nest she made and offers his a weak smile with a tired yawn. "How was your trip? Find anything?"

"No, not really." He keeps looking her up and down. If you could see beneath the mask, you'd see the bags under his eyes. But he smiles and ignores his exhaustion. "Say kiddo, how are you? I know I haven't been around all that much, but I was hoping to make up for it."

"Sure, whatever. Have you eaten yet?" Hal chuckles and rubs his temple. "Why is my padawan concerned about me?" He places a fatherly hand on her shoulder and replies just as tired as her. "Yeah, I've got some stashed grilled cheeses still lying around. I think we need to hit the market soon."

"Huh? There's a market in space?"

"Kid, do you really think that's possible?"

"I don't know, the guy who protects my planet has a fetish for marshmallows and I spent last night talking to an elephant. A lot of things are possible."

"I do not have a fetish!"

"That's what people with fetishes say."

"Don't correct me, kiddo. I'm still your boss."

"Not quite, but I'll let you believe that... for now."

He starts strolling towards the small houses made of the world around them; Hal doesn't want to invade on the reunion, but he _does_ want to speak with Aya. Maybe she could actually help them out with this... unnamed threat.

But even with the fear rising in his heart, Jordan shoves it aside and refocuses on the girl he robbed from Earth. "Say, I spoke with Kilowog earlier. You've got today off too."

"Holla. I could use the time to work on my tan."

"You're actually of the hook from him - I've got you for the next twenty four hours." Kieran stares blankly at the man, so he arches a brow and stops in his traces. "What? Don't like me already?"

"Well," She keeps her stellar, emotionless face completely blank - she'd be the bomb at poker. "You look tired. I figured you'd at least want to take a while to... I don't know, chill out a little?"

"I think we've been over this already."

"What? The fact that we're only human, or the fact that tomorrow's filled with shit?"

"Both. You need to constantly be on your toes."

"Aren't you the one that never charges up before leaving?"

"Who told you that?"

"Why does it matter?"  
"Oh my god kid, can you tone down the sass?!"

"Nope, you're stuck with me. And this... this is who I am." They look at each other like a weary father battling his stubborn daughter. You can almost see them in the family atmosphere, a crowded house, a screaming wife/mother, a few cats nestled in the corners. With eyes locked, they grow more and more distant as the space between them shrinks.

Hal can't hold it in, he breaks first; the laughter flows from his exhausted lungs and he winces at the effort of life's most simple form of bliss. Kieran giggles and doubles over a little too, happy to have the moment to be laughing for no reason. Kilowog approaches them with a frown stretched across his boxer-like face, but when he sees theirs, he simply rolls his eyes, mumbles something about "delusional Earthlings", and stomps away. Kieran looks over her shoulder, prying deep under the layer of thick Bolovoxian hide. "I get the feeling he doesn't like me."

"Oh, that's his way of showing he cares. He really does like you." Hal reassures faintly, still cackling slightly inside. "Say, wanna go for a run with me?"

"A run? Really? I woke up like two minutes ago."

"Yeah, and I've been hunting through space for an alien menace."

"I think some grub sounds good first. Are you willing to share your nasty American-cheesed Grilled Cheeses?"

"Sure, just a few."

"Oh, and I need a brush."

"Really? I thought that was an animal building a home in your hair."

"You're lucky you're not a girl," she says, swatting at his shoulder as they begin walking to the Moc Eight. "Girls are hard to handle, and I forgot to snag one when you stole me from home."

"Steal you? You wanted to come, you were practically my train-hopping hobo."

"I call bull - you forced me to go with you!"

"Oh? Were you cuffed and gagged?"

"I don't remember you giving me a choice." Hal chuckles and swings a loving arm over his padawan's shoulders. "Gee kid, I like this side of you." He looks down at her, offering a smile - weird, she returns it. A smile looks good on that beat-up face. "Yeah, I guess it's my fault."

"You guess?"

"How about I make up for it? In the next week or so, we'll head back home." The girl slowly stops walking and looks at him with a shaky stance - think an underdog standing up to the obviously stronger person... but where was the stronger person here? Between them? In each other? In him, in _her_?

And what is the strength? What defines the muscle power of the heart? The tone of the body, the slope of their back, the sweat that drips from their brow? Not everyone can sweat.

Kieran looks weary at the idea, but willing to challenge it head-on. Without moving, she replies with an earnest heart. "Sure. Home sounds good right about now."

She almost didn't have to say it.


	20. Its Not THAT Stale

Its funny how small conversations can fill days so easily. You know when you're talking with a friend, a friend so dear to you that when nothing is left to speak of, you talk about every single thing? If you are cursed by not yet possessing that friend, look to tomorrow, for hope burns bright.

But those idle conversations that are completely useless to the mortal ear... those consume your mornings and evenings when you are actually at ease.

Kieran spent the following two days transitioning between mentors - Kilowog for brute yelling, Saint Walker for enlightenment, and Hal Jordan for the support we all need. AKA - Kilowog exercised her muscles to breath, Bro'Dee taught her how to use her lungs, and Hal helped her find a reason to breath tomorrow. It cycled through and through, person after person, day after day. Tensions of failure and confusion morphed into laughter and the daily hunt for a ponysquirrel; Kieran had yet to lay eyes on one, and Anu was relentless now that he knew of her quick fingers. The girl also had yet to create a construct, but to be honest, she was okay about it. If anything, she's made strides to control the green that encases her arm, and all it took was a few words from Ganthet.

"You are attempting to exert the energy. Your willpower is not to be exerted, let it flow from your tips."

"Sorry, I'm trying."

"Indeed you are. Perhaps the energy you attempt to manifest is not channeled correctly." She waits quietly for him to go on, which surprises the Oan. "Treat everything as you would... a trial, perhaps. The Alpha Corps was designed to regulate, act as though that is what you are doing."

"Okay."

Weird - when you're taken from your home for one reason and one reason alone - and you learn you can't do _that one reason_ - You tend to be rather "upset" by the luck you've struck.

Then again, Kieran the human was spending her days on another planet with a few saints and angels, plus a demonic-man-pig-thing and a talking elephant. When life gives you lemons, you make some killer lemonade in this corner of the universe!

Four days after the return of the Interceptor men, Kieran was nibbling at a slightly stale grilled cheese when LANOS popped in front of her.

"Greetings, Alpha Lantern Kieran Lucas of Earth! An incoming message awaits your reply!"

"Huh? Oh, uh, HAL!"

"WHAT?" He was gossiping away with Aya outside of the Moc Eight and without skipping a beat, hollers right back up at the girl. "THE PHONE!" She roars through a tough piece of bread. As he glides up and Aya walks quietly behind him, the girl casts the guy a guilty smile. "Hey, you raided my stash, kid!"

"It's nearly expired anywho. I think we should restock." He disregards her and plants his hands against the main controls of LANOS. "What's up, LANOS?"

"Incoming message on high alert!"  
"Play." He says, suddenly weary. Aya too seems to get a little anxious at those little words. She places a hand on Hal's shoulder, they lock eyes briefly. Kieran peaks across the room to glance at the two of them - what made then suddenly so down? Picking her plate up, she steps quietly into the main control room as a green hologram flashes to live.

"Hey, hey! Is this thing working? Can you hear me? Can ANYONE hear me?" The holograph blinks and flashes, jumping to and from the physical plane. Hal leans forward. "This is Green Lantern Hal Jordan. Your signal is weak, but we read you. What is the problem?"  
"A major tectonic fault JUST came to life! People have fallen in, and we're getting reports of the same thing happening on the other side of the planet. Diri'Lucanod, look out!"

A crash. A loud crash, to be specific, echoes across the ship. Hal looks over his shoulder at his student. "Kieran, get the Blue Lanterns. Get them _now_." Terrified, she drops her plate and obeys.

Her eyes are frantic as she drifts out and whips her head around to find people. Landing at a jog, she picks up her speed and sprints to the Blue Lantern lounge-house. "Walker, Warth? Ganthet, Kilowog? Anyone!" She jumps out and towards the springs, screaming the entire way. Kilowog flies down from the north and grips her by the shoulders; she shakes him off though and points at the ship. "Major earthquake. Where's Razer-?"

"Red's right behind me. I got the word from Hal. Let's go." He, like Hal, is calm but commanding. Automatically he jumps up and gets to the ship. "What about another Blue?"

"I heard you," answers a long call from a tired Saint Walker. He, too, picks up speed and nears the ship. "Come, we have a people to aid."

"What about Anu?"

"He is with Brother Warth and Ganthet. He is well."

The two get back to the ship behind a blazing Razer. Once they're fully onboard, the ship retracts its large paws and takes to the sky.

Kieran wasn't ready for the ship to take off like that - she gets thrust into the wall behind her. At the last moment though, her training with Kilowog pulls through and she spins a little to land with her feet against the wall. She catches a caught-off-guard Bro'Dee, who offers a warm nod in thanks as she loops an arm around him. The two try flying forward into the cockpit.

"What was that?" She demands, the remains of her sandwich splattered against the wall next to the retracting door. "I forgot how messed up this program is!" Hal shouts back, clinging on to the main control part. Razer holds Aya close and dear, snug in the crook of his body like a baby to its mother; forget the mission on hand, he's completely absorbed in how she is. She looks fine, just dazed. With a few expert adjustments and some blundering curses, Hal regains control over the ship. Kilowog takes out his anger on the control panel in front of him. "Stinkin' littl' -" He pauses to recollect the fact that a previous artificial life was standing behind him with a PO'd husband holding her tight.  
Aya steps closer to the control panel. "LANOS, disengaged all master control under your control, grant such access to your pilot."

"As you wish!" As fond as she is, Kieran can't stand a cheery voice like LANOS's after nearly making her wet herself. She flickers over to Walker, who collects his long body for a levitating meditation. "Are you okay, Saint Walker?"

"Indeed. I thank you for this fact. However, I am curious." His right eye blinks - twice - and opens to face the crew. "What is the situation we are strolling into?"

"A planet a few sectors away just had some insane tectonic rumbles."

"Apparently," Aya cuts off Hal and leans forward to press a few buttons. A holograph of the planet appears. "The planet has experience traumatic pressure shifts due to a star going supernova and affecting their solar energy source. The polar magnets of the planet not only fluctuated, but nearly ripped the planet in half."

"Are their still quakes?"

"Negative, the tectonic movement is settling down." The holograph comes to life and the planet's poles look like they had some major divorce take place - the northern section literally rips away from the southern. "However, the residential aftershock is still occurring and will not cease for some time. The people are also dealing with fires from fallen wires and a blackout of electronic resources."

"Is it cut in half?" Kieran's voice is mystified, curious, anxious, and totally lost. Its not every day you're pulled in to be a firefighter for an entire planet. Aya glances at the girl, catching her worry. "Negative. The poles are still connected, but a rift has formed across the equator of the planet."

"How deep is it?"

"About fifty kilometers."

"Wait, where does the magma flow, uh, stop for this planet?"  
The entire group (except for a meditating Saint Walker, of course) turns to look at her. She scrambles to catch herself and tugs at her hair. "Well, not only will the oceans be jacked up - I'm guessing that they've got water, right? - And new mountains will form at the poles, but if the plates ripped far enough away, maybe magma could reach the surface. Which means-"

"-Not just magma," Kilowog concludes, cutting her off and turning to face the other adults, "Volcanoes will form, thunderstorms with the atmospheric pressure change, their planet's gonna pop!"

"Maybe we should have LANOS kick it." Hal concludes, looking forward. Reluctantly, Saint Walker opens an eye. "I agree, brother."

With a nod, they were thrust further into the unknown.

* * *

The title is a reference to the fact that this collective fandom scribble isn't too boring 3

Things actually start now, so... yeah

dude this isn't even the main event! :D I really, really love reviews, and i really, really hope you all like the madness!


	21. Want

"I want Razer and Aya down there to-"

"I am not allowing her down there!"

"Razer, Aya's a big girl, she can care for 'erself." Kilowog lashes out in the woman's defense; she, too, seems upset about her husband's proposal. "Beloved," she begins, gripping his hand firmly between her delicate fingers, "I will be of no assistance waiting on the ship."

"But what if you get hurt? What will we do then?" He bends over her, his hope flickering in shades of grey before morphing into red. The red of possibility, the red of losing the love of his life - again. His eyes are narrowed and his intentions pure, but the will of the ex-artificial lifeform cannot be broken. Hal swings around to face the couple that he considers his children. "I hate to say it Razer, but Aya will be amplified by your blue energy. We need as much juice down there as we can get. She won't be in danger's way as long as you're at her side anyway, right?" Without a pause, he wheels back to the human girl. "Kier, I want you with me, Kilowog-" He turns to his greatest friend in the frontier, "You and Saint Walker will do what you can along the equator. We need to stabilize the condition of the planet. Now, I might not know a lot about geography or tectonics or whatever, but do what you can to prevent people from falling into the rift. Maybe even try to stop the rift from growing. Kier, you and I will branch to find who we can and collect the people together, understand?"

"Yes, but," she raises her hand and pulls it back down; after having it engraved in your brain for the majority of your young life, any adolescent would have likely done the same. "Yes what?" Hal retorts, temper shortening yet still soft. Kieran stands quickly and peers into the holograph. "Well, it looks like this -" she points to where the outline of a tectonic plate collides into another, creating fictional lines to represent the ripples stretching across the planet. She then traces her finger to the other end of the plate "-this looks like a place where a massive volcano will come from the gap of the planet. Should a team head down there? It'll probably cause the most damage, and if it can be stopped before happening -"

"Good call kid. Kilowog, take Saint Walker down there; if she's right, we'll be saving a lot of lives."

"And if the child is wrong?" Razer folds his arms across his chest, still bitter about having lost this battle. Kieran blinks at him, raw with feelings. "The 'child' can hear you!"  
"What she said makes sense Razer. Would you rather go down there with Aya and possibly loose her and your unborn?" Hal suddenly retraces himself as if he's slapped a puppy. "Sorry, didn't mean to-"

"No Hal, it is alright." Aya speaks up softly - still strong enough to cut him off however - as she strokes her stomach and pulls at her drapes. "We will be arriving shortly. Razer, please aid me with putting something else on." She walks away briskly as Razer follows, pouting like a pup.

Kieran watches their backsides disappear and rolls her eyes in such an exaggerated way that her head gets thrust around. Hal lifts his eyebrows under the mask. "Kid we are not dealing with this now."

"If we put it back another day, another day might not come."

"Don't pull that on me. I'm not dealing with this now. Get over the differences and get your head in the game."

"Is that what you told Razer?"

"Naw, its what he told me." Kilowog grunts from the side. He's prodding at his post on the ship, comfortable in his own way of being stressed out. He's even more beautiful in his natural habitat of yelling at student super saviors.

Saint Walker reaches out a hand and places it gently on the girl. She doesn't turn because she knows why its there. All she does is pat it and shrug it off. He resumes hoping for ubiquitous peace as she continues to ponder the testosterone levels of men from Volkreg.

"We're nearin' the coordinates. Got any word from the guy who called us?"

"Something like a text message. Just frantic typing about how things are pretty much falling apart. Aya, Razer? We're here."

The girl straitens in her chair and peeks out the surround-sound styled apocalypse. You can't see the people, and the clouds swarm like slow-motion ants. A blanket of deep blue coats the planet and sparse, dense forests decorate the micro-continents. Kieran's breath is taken away as inactive volcanoes blossom into active ones, as storm eyes stare blankly back at her. She stands up as the ship slows, mouth a-gap and eyes wide. The others, as experienced as they are, reacted in a similar manner: Hal Jordan of Earth winces as if punched in the gut, Kilowog the Bolovaxian curses, and Saint Walker breaths a prayer.

Everyone stands almost at once (except for Kieran, of course) and heads for the door. They meet the couple as they exit the control room, and Razer's eyes meet Kieran's. No nod, no forgiveness, just acknowledgement of each other's existence. Then they look away and fly down the open ramp.

Kieran meanders to Hal's side as he gives a few final commands to Kilowog. Saint Walker, winging the Sergeant on the left, gracefully bends and turns as the atmosphere thickens by natural pressure of gravity. Razer and Aya hold hands and make there way in another direction.

A sonic boom welcomes them like a doorbell chime. Even in the sky, the flying firefighters shudder as the pressure fluctuates. Birds cry and take to the sky - one, a bat-type thing with a dog's face and long ears, nearly hits her. A giant bumblebee the size of a boulder flaps frantically at its frail wings, trying to escape the doom that fell on it's hive. The hive itself, about a mile in diameter, seems to be falling into itself. "Look out kid! Keep your eyes forward!" Hal warns as they lean over the hive. Looking down, the humans can see the black swarm of rising, buzzing, and ready-to-sting pests. Kieran breathes deeply and pries her eyes from the massive beauty of nature. Another boom echoes across their ears, and for a moment, both humans think that their eardrums have burst.

Consumed by the pain ringing from every corner of her body, Kieran stops thinking about the people she's trying to save. She stops thinking about her home. She stops thinking about what it means to be a good person.

She stops flying.

"KIER!" Hal screams, watching his padawan drop like a rock in the ocean. He cries out and pries at his ears, begging for the pain to stop! Then he regains himself, morphs some rough mufflers, and dives to save the girl. Before he has her within reach though, she conquerors herself and the familiar green plasma lights up across her arm and sparks in her eyes. Kieran looks at Jordan apologetically, but he doesn't accept the moment; he briskly makes some snug mufflers for her and they zoom off together. "What was that?" she shouts at him. Hal shrugs and brushes some hair out of her face - an effort to reassure himself that she was still there - and brightens a little. "The tectonic plates," he roars back, "maybe they grin on each other when they move?" She looks down, scanning the land. "I keep wanting to say it's an Earthquake!"

"Huh? I didn't hear you!"

"What did you say?" She points to their left, where a cluster of the natives wave at them from the top of a protruding piece of land. Gingerly, Hal attempts to remove the earplugs before ripping them away, confident that the sound was gone.

"Is everyone alright?" Hal stretches out his arms to bat down the anxiety of the people. Roughly twenty, ranging in size, color, and apparent age, nod. "Where is the safest place for you all to be in?"

"The Center a few clicks from here was broadcasted as a safe house. Many should be collecting there." A brave one steps forward to offer as he presses an infant into the arms of another. He strokes Hal's arm backwards in some way of affection, confidence, or trust, lavender fur brushes the naked arm of man. The feline creature blinks at the girl warmly and flicks its tail. "I am Diri'Matoniod, may the gods below bless you for saving my people."

"Your name's Diri?" The up-walking purple-ish cat stares at the girl in slight apprehension, making Kieran look away. "When we got the call that you guys were uh, in trouble, someone named Diri was there."

"Diri? Diri who?"

"Was it Lucanod?" The one that had the child in its arms - apparently female, as breast protruded from a cut in her moderate-styled clothing - steps forward. She walks so she stands in front of the human girl, a good two feet taller and with amber eyes bright from the tears of the day.

"Uh, I think something like that...-."

"Blessed! Then my sister is well! She must be at The Center!" She spins on her husband with short ears pointed forward.

"Please," Matoniod begs, reaching for Hal's arm once more and silencing his wife at the same time, "Please, take us to our safe place."

"Of course. But first, do you know if anyone else is lost within the area? Can you contact them?" A darker blue feline with vivid green eyes shakes his head. "We lost all contact after the power lines broke. We have gathered all that we can." Hal nods. "Then let's move." Kicking up his feet to levitate, he emits a bright green board beneath the people, which grows from the corners and carries them from the ground. Some oohhh and ahh, some children cry, and the adults sooth the terrorized souls to the best of their ability. Kieran takes her place beside Hal, but he waves her away. "Stay behind these people," he commands, the compassionate, father-like figure all but vanished, "see if you can spot any stragglers." Reluctantly the girl nods and stays in one place as Hal starts to carry the people ahead, Diri'Matoniod making his way closest to Hal for directions.

As she trails behind Hal, her eyes zigzag back and forth across the broken planet as mystified as she is undoubtedly afraid. At home, we don't have shit for something on this scale... how many will we lose? Her mind flashes to her siblings and screwed parents, and for a moment, she actually feels homesick.

The moment is cut short as she notices two children, paw-hand in paw-hand, staring back at her with huge tears on their fat faces. Their clothes is ripped and their hearts look lost. Kieran gets closer to them and merges through Hal's case; they step back and hold each other in fear of the looming alien. Kieran smiles and kneels, getting to their eye level. "Hey you two," she tries, coaxing them closer. "What are your names?"

They look at her with eyes that consume their little faces and eyes the color of gemstones. Soft fur coats their little bodies as their thin tails swish nervously back and forth, making mixed shades of red and black dance along one another.

Since she isn't getting an answer, Kieran keeps her smile and the one-sided conversation going. "My name's Kieran. I'm from Earth. What do you call your home?"

"Sabilia." The one to the left - the more red of the two - speaks in a barely audible tone. The human whistles. "What a pretty name! Do you like your home? It's awful pretty."

They both nod, and the death-grip intertwining their fingers loosens a little. Kieran opens her mouth to say something else, but her ring flashes. "Kid are you on lookout?"

"Sorry sir, I was just-"

"No, no sorries. Kid this is life or death for these people," his sharp tone cuts through her heart like a butter knife, "Get back out there and look for the living."

Sheepishly and feeling like she let down the one person who really cares for her, she peeks back up at the kids. One, the quieter one, offers her a shaky smile. "S'okay." it mumbles. Kieran reaches out a hand to stroke the ruffled mess on top of its head; at first they flinch, but then they accept the touch of the furless human. Looking deep into the both of them, Kieran ushers the one fact that she refuses to accept. "It's gonna be okay you guys, _all will be well_."

* * *

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*sniffle* sorry for the late update, work has been driving me BANANAS

anywho, i have this planned out for the next month or so. Please, please do provide reviews 3 the more the merrier, plus it's wonderful encouragement to write more n_n


	22. Table for Two-ish

"Any news?"

"None. The tectonic movement is settling, but has yet to cease."  
"Can you predict when it will stop?" The sergeant replies, since he spoke earlier with a geologist.

"_Hurmph_, no." The human turns to the feline.

"Can you guys figure it out?"

"No, our power is completely out."

"Can we hotwire it all to the ship?"

"Possibly..."

"No, the ship's energy source is not compatible with their technology - no offense - we need to approach this differently." The rage-filled hopeful man cuts off the cat with a polite nod. His wife pages through the data of their power source.

"Miss?" The little redhead from earlier perks its little ears at Kieran and tugs at her arm. The Alpha Lantern pries her eyes away from the discussion with reluctance. When she sees the big brown eyes though, she can't help but forget about the adults talking. She _was_ hurt a little, though - they didn't invite her in the conversation. "I have a question," the little voice speaks up, and the girl smiles. "Shoot away."

After getting an awful curious look, the child continues. "Mah friend, Yitiri'Fanloid, is missing Kalisi."

"Whose Kalisi?"

"Her Gamadon."

"Uhhhh," Kieran scratches her head, thinking about how to say this... without hurting any feelings. But before she can answer, another child - presumably Fanloid - comes up with big fat tears and blood oozing from a fresh cut at her flaming red-orange elbow. "Please Green Lantern, please get her for me." Her lower lip trembles and her ears press flat against her fat head. She almost looks like Kilowog, with such a bizarre head-to-ear ratio. Kieran sighs and kneels. _Shit, these kids are cute. _"Where is your house?"

"Past The Old Uan Tree west of here. Then go east - My house is... uh, was... *sniffle* green."

"On my way. Hal -" She stands up pats the kid reassuringly "I'll be back."

"Be careful," he stresses, eyeing her briefly before turning back to Razer's idea. "-Nonono, that won't work. What we need to do is evacuate-"

"With so many people? How will we all-"

"-I don't understand what this marking means-"

"-Humph, we can use the ship's tracta' beam-"

It's weird how when you're in a place with thousands of people, you can feel so damn alone. But Kieran looks down at the kids, picks up her feet, and despite the continual headache, takes to the skies to find this "Calisee"-thing.

Another episode of explosive sound took over the planet again, but it's settled down since then. Over 400,000 of the original 1,900,000-ish population was now crowded together in The Center, which, as Hal puts it, "Is really remarkable."

"In what way?" the girl questioned as they waved over Razer and Aya. Anu's adoptive mother looked as content as ever, but the master of the house looked ready to rip a tree from its roots. "Think about it kiddo," Hal continued, picking himself up to levitate and greet his other "kiddos." "We're really lucky with the odds so far, and Kilowog is still looking for more. Think about what Saint Walker would say right about now." Kieran huffed and looks away.

And looking around the desolate, barren, jagged land, the weight of Jordan's words slowly sinks in. The hardest part is when you find one or two that weren't so lucky.

And what the hell is an Uan tree? "Hal, what's an Uan tree?" She tries, begging her ring for an answer. As usual, no reply greets her. She sighs as her eyes sweep the landscape, surveying for any signs of life as well as a monster-tree. As a native to California, it's easy to spot an oak tree from a mile away... _its actually somewhat obnoxious, how everyone stereotypes a California girl to be a blond surfer girl. Believe it or not, but Cali people aren't carbon copies of one another - ever been to San Francisco? When you do, bring a camera. _

Flying across an alien planet can give you the opportunity to really let your heart sing, or at least to figure out who you think you are. At the bare minimum, give yourself the opportunity to think whatever thoughts you want.

"Kid, did you hail me?"

"Yeah, what's an Uan tree?"

"Uh, hold on." the ring flickers as if Hal's put her on hold. It beams back to life with Saint Walker's lulling voice. "Hello, Little Sister."

"Walker, what's a Uan tree?"

"Its grace is unparalleled, its height is magnificent. It is-"

"-Like an Oak tree?" One looms in the distance, tall enough to kiss the heavens. "If that is what you call if on your native land, then yes. Much of the universe is the same but heeds different names. Look for similarities - not by blood, but by heart."

"Mmmm yeah okay, thank you, I got what I need. See ya late-"

"Wait, Kieran."

"Yeah?"

"Bond with the universe surrounding you by allowing it within you. Allow the words of nature's song, allow the flutter of wings within your fears. Allow-"

"Saint Walker, you are an amazing guy, but I really don't think now is the time to be talking about painting the colors of the wind. Pocahontas would be proud of us, but we've got something bigger on our plates."

"I agree to a point; what is more important, then? Finding your strength by looking in others, or by aiding the souls around you without prime power? Tomorrow did not come for these people. Think of it that way." He clicks off as Kieran rolls her eyes. Why can't people just deal with one thing at a time?! it's like they're always in a hurry, racing to nowhere.

_But it doesn't matter, 'cause I found the damn tree. Now it's a green house I'm looking for, right?_

She was answered by a shatter across the sky. The heavens above, sobbing with fresh storm clouds, now gave way to birthing ashes from above. You'd almost think that they were snowflakes, gently twisting and turning, dancing their hearts out. One lands on Kieran's nose as she tries to escape the wrath of nature; not the best idea when you are being chased by a thunderstorm. Another flash of lightning strikes a pose to her right as the loyal _boom_ follows its master like a hound.

But being close to a thunderstorm brings the danger of Nature's wrath even closer, and the boom makes Kieran teeter in attempt of regaining her stride across the sky. She shivers, the temperature suddenly dropping. She looks down, trying to ignore the madness of this planet. _I wonder what they were doing twenty-four hours ago?_

Wait. The heat of that volcano a few miles back... it was to the left, right? Isn't left uh, South or something?

"Wait a second," she mumbles, stopping in her tracks and levitating to collect her meandering thoughts. "Volcanoes come from... from cracks in the ground. So that makes sense. The thunderstorm, though... that's frommmmmm, uh... the cold? no no no no, hold on-" The headache from earlier beats within her like a crazy drummer, slamming against her ears and rattling her brain. But logic prevails!

There was a volcano a few years back, wasn't there? One in... Scotland? Iceland? Greenland? one of those places.

The flights were all canceled, Dad was stuck in the airport trying to get back home after a "meeting". _Why the hell was the meeting halfway across the planet?_

But that doesn't matter... _why was there a thunderstorm? Shit, think Kier, think!_

It was the drastic change in temperature, wasn't it? THATS IT! The quick shift from the natural cold of Ice/Green/Scotland mixed with the volcano, and that made a thunderstorm. Thunderstorms are born out of the forces of nature colliding head-on!

_The heck does this have to do with anything? _She shakes her head, the drumming getting louder and louder, and rushes ahead to find this girl's pet. _At least Mr. Greyson would be proud of me._

_Shit, how much school have I missed?_

A half of a green house looms just inside of her peripheral vision, and she rushes over to it since no others are around. It's ripped clean in half, with one half still charred from a dying ember. It looks haunted and almost Norse by architecture - and the fact that it faced the wrath of the apocalypse.

"Ka, ka... uh, Kalisi?" She lands with one arm bracing the other, pointing straight ahead as if targeting someone's head. Kilowog's right, after all - if you can't shoot like a Lantern, at least look the part.

She takes a tentative step closer to an unhinged door, stepping sideways to make herself a smaller target. "Kalisi? Kalisi thing, where are you?" A gentle breeze makes the door flap uselessly and the girl jumps. _Breathe, no one's here._

"Kalisi?" She steps through the door as a clap of thunder echoes outside. The ground creeeeeeeeeeeks with the pressure of a person trying to creep in; the human can't help but feel self-conscious about her weight again.

"Kalisi, your girl is looking for you. Kalisi?" She steps deeper into the darkness, the only light flashing from the shadows of lightning. a dim fire burns in the corner, consuming a portrait. "Yit...yit... Yitiri, was that it? Kalisi, Yitiri is looking for you! Yitiri-uh, Fanloin I think? Yitiri'Fanlion wants you Kalisi!"

"Fanloid loves Kalisi." whispers the corner.

_WHATTHEHELLWASTHAT._

"Fanloid loves Kalisi. Kalisi loves Fanloid." It whispers again, unsure of it's tongue. "Kieran spins and points her hand at the shadows. "Come out, now," she weakly spits out. The human shakes with anticipation, perspiration starts to creep out of her brow.

The boom outside matches the crazy _thu-thump_ of her racing heart, all the while trying to beat the throbbing headache with its volume.

And silence falls.

And out lashes the little legs of a monkey, clinging on to the girl's face.

"Fanloid loves Kalisi!" It sputters with glee, wrapping all six limbs around the girl. It nibbles at her ear with its tail rubbing across Kieran's chin.

At this point, things clinging to her face aren't too unorthodox. She strokes to little creature, finding a halter-collar across it's little body, and stroking the fine embodiment of small gemstones across it. "here here Kalisi, it's okay."

"Kalisi loves Fanloid! Fanloid loves Kalisi!"

"Sure, okay. Can you say anything else?" Kieran pulls back the creature to arm's length, inspecting the little kindred spirit. Black and grey with beady yellow eyes, the monkey-type family pet curls its long, fragile tail around the girl's hand as a smile stretches across its little face. It reaches out for her and farts in joy of finding another living creature. Kieran wrinkles her nose and tries holding the creature further away as it excretes itself. It giggles and chuckles and chimes like a child.

"Fanloid loves Kalisi!"

"I heard," Kieran says with a weak smile, trying to control her breathing. "Can you say anything else?"

It pauses then mouths back at her "Can you say anything else?"

"Oh, you're a parrot."

"Oh, you're a pirrrrrrrrrriot."

Kieran giggles and offers the primate her arm. It races up to her shoulder with a feathery grace and perches right beside her hair, combing through it with expert fingers. "Come on Kalisi, let's get you back to Fanloid."

"Fanloid loves Kalisi!"

"I know, you told me." The human wanders through the broken door with a newfound confidence and strokes the creature's chin. It clings to her - like a cat with razor sharp claws - as she picks up her feet to try flying back to The Center.

* * *

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Because we all know what it is like to feel so utterly alone yet claustrophobic. 3 REVIEWS POR FAVOR! I love the harsh ones too!


	23. That Place

"Fanloid loves Kalisi!"

"Yup."

"Kalisi is good!"

"Yup."

"Kalisi is fly!"

"No," Kieran giggles, stroking the small, four-armed primate under the chin again. "Kalisi is flying. Can you say that? _Fly-ing_."

"Say-that-flying."

"Close enough."

"Close enough."

Kieran breathes a breath of relief - as nice as it is to have company flying across a dead planet; it's also nice to have some peace in this hour of crisis. The human settles into a comfortable speed as she scours the land for the Uan - aka Oak - tree and the pet chimp quietly hums to itself. The scorches of nature's fury hide faint burn marks on its little black body, and a little bit of dried blood coats the bedazzled harness. _Better that than not having the animal at all for the little girl._

"Pppppprrrsssss." Kieran looks at her new friend. "Huh?"

"Ppppprrrrssssss helphelphelphelphelphel-"

"What?" Kieran stops and levitates, looking at the ape on her shoulder - its little eyes trace someone unseeable behind them. "Helphelphelphelp."

"Where Kalisi? Where is the help?"

"Where is the help?"

"No, don't repeat me."

"No, don-"

"Kalisi," Kieran voice reaches its low warning tone and she gentle holds the ape's small snout in her hand, muffling its sounds. "Helphelphelp?"

"Helphelphelp." it replies, squirming from her grip. Kieran, lost as ever, lowers herself to the ground and the pet jumps from its perch. It has a slightly gimpy limp, but its thin, curled tail keeps it from getting lost in the rubble. "Helphelphelp!" It calls like a parrot, small head spinning around as it looks for the one who made the first sounds. Kieran follows at a hesitant walk, then a slow jog. "Is someone out here? Does anyone need help?"

The two wander around for about twenty minutes, each second ticking away slower than the first. Kieran finally catches up the swerving, chirping primate and latches onto its tail. "Kalisi, no one's here."

"Helphelphelp!"

"No Kalisi. Fanloid loves Kalisi, remember? No help."

"Helphelphelp," it mutters, fighting the girl's grasp, tail twitching angrily. The human girl sighs and picks up the creature, just to have it jump off her as they near twenty feet in the air. "Hey!" She calls down, furious at the rodent. "You can't do that!"

"You can't do that!"

"This is so annoying," she mumbles, more to herself than anyone else. "Kalisi lets go!"

"Helphelphelp?"

And she hears it.

Kalisi gets on her hind legs peeks over some toppled concrete. "Helphelphelp?'

"Help." the wind whispers back. Kalisi pokes her little head under the slab of concrete to no avail. She jumps and waddles over to another slab. "Helphelphelp?"

"Is anyone here?"

"I am, I am! Wait *cough* please, do not leave me! Help, I am down here!"

"Hold on, I'm coming! Keep talking to me, I'll get you out of there!"

"Help me, help me please! I cannot move, my legs are stuck! I am unsure if I can feel my legs...-"

"What is your name?" Kieran pries at the lost civilian, peeking and prodding around like the housepet. "Gariti'Adamatoid."

"Gariti'Matiod," replies Kalisi, scrambling over an overturned stone. "Gariti'Matiod!"

"Yes! Yes, I am here! Come to the Gamadon, it has found me!"

"Got it, Matiod, don't worry." Kieran zooms over quickly and peeks under a turned vehicle, coming eye to eye with a battered, light-blue cat. One eye is winced shut, the other bright with fear and pain - that is until he sees the Green Lantern's light. Regenerated hope floods him, and he pounds the ground with a tight fist in relief. "My goodness, bless the gods below! I thought I was doomed!"  
"Is it just you down here?" Kieran asks, brushing some hair out of the way. She tries hailing Hal but has no success. "Yes, it is only me," the tired voice rasps back, reaching out for the girl. "Will you help me, Green Lantern?"

"What? Oh, yeah, don't worry. I'm just waiting for more help to come."

"Ba-boom, ba-boom!"

"What is it Kalisi?" Kieran turns back to the chimp; its hide is bristling in fear of something in the distance. As the human traces the little eyes, she finds what the ba-boom is.

"Ba-boom, CRASH!" The Gamadon shrieks, springing onto Kieran. She strokes it reassuringly.

But she has no idea what the hell she's supposed to do.

A thunderstorm, intertwined with a tornado, slowly grows bigger and bigger, dances its way over to her with death cackling from its thrown in the eye of the storm. _Ring_, she begs internally, _how much time do I have until that... that thing gets here?_  
What is usually silence is shattered - like the lightening that flickers across the sky - by a monotone response. _You have approximately six point-three-two seconds until the storm arrives. _

_ Shit._

"Green Lantern? Green Lantern, what is the problem?" The weak voice begs from its place under the car, ears pressed flat against its round head. The wind begins to pick up. "Nothing, don't worry pal. We're gonna get you out a'there."

"We? Have the reinforcements arrived?"

"Uh, not quite." _Think, Kier, think! _She faces where The Center looms just out of eyesight, rubbing her ring as if an idea will spring from it. Kalisi clutches her shoulder as if she's attempting to rip it off with the small, sharp nails.

"I have an idea, but-"

"I do not care. Please, free me!" She sighs as the sweat starts to collect again.

"Alright, but you have to hold Kalisi." She pries the critter from her shoulder and hands it to the young man. Their eyes meet, his brilliant green one takes her breath away. Despite the trauma he has undoubtedly gone through, Adamatoid offers her a weak smile. The wind whips at the girl's skin, making her feel much more exposed to the universe. "Green Lantern, my faith is in your paws - or, uh, hands." Light stripes are brushed back, like a guy fixing his hair, and the debris in his short mane falls off and onto his nose. She blinks and stands up, unable to look him in the eye a moment longer. What if she can't get him out of there in time?

She'll be the last thing he laid eyes on before dying. He'll be the first civilian she couldn't save. Kieran clears her throat and pressed on her head, fiercely brushing all of her hair back. "Matiod, you need to tell me if this hurts you more, okay?"

"Agreed, Green Lantern."

_Five minutes, twelve seconds. _

_ Shit, that's thee longest minute in history. _She braces folded arms against the stone and tries to thrust the stone up; its not too surprising that it doesn't budge though, since she's a bit short of a body-builder. She next tries bracing her back against the stone and pressing upward, arms on legs, grunting in the effort. But nothing happens.

"Oh my god, what do I do," she mumbles, chin quivering. She rotates between the two ways, pulling and pushing, pushing and pulling with all her might. In frantic frustration, she tries to create a construct; a spark the size of a pea falls from her quaking hand.

_Three minutes, forty-six seconds. _

She crumbles and cries, Maroid trying to see her through the small crack under the stone. "Green Lantern? What is it?"

"I'm not a Green Lantern, stop calling me that!" She screams, hands covering her mouth. The wind picks up as another lightning bolt crashes to the planet's surface. Her hair is tossed in the unpredictable wind as her hope ebbs away. "Goddamn it I don't know what to do! I'm not strong enough! You're going to die and its because I'm not strong enough!"

"Listen to me, Guardian Angel," the voice whimpers boldly. Kieran presses her face into the ground, praying that some miracle will find its way into her mind. She turns a little to look at the trapped soul, but hurriedly looks away to hide her shame. "Guardian Angel, you are the strongest person I have ever met."

"Fuc-"

"No, listen to me," his voice weakens by the heartbeat as he realizes what looms just outside. Kalisi grips him ferociously, small yellow eyes wide in fear. "Listen to me," he reaches out to grab her, "All you have to do is believe you can do it. Thats it! You have the strength!"  
"Why the hell do you say that?!" _Two minutes, fifty-three seconds remain until impact. _

"That ring did not just stumble onto your uh, hand. You are here for a reason."

_Why the hell does everyone say that?_

"Guardian Angel, breathe and believe. You can do this," his voice falters as the tornado-storm enters his little crevice of light. "Please, for me, be strong, be brave. For those that we both love, use your strength!"

For about fifty light years, the only thing that the two of them could hear was the frantic beat of their hearts and the hustling wind. Papers whip and hearts fall, dreams die and hopes burn.

The headache, it beats ferociously. She can almost see a creature banging on the inside of her mind, throwing its heart and soul into beating her into a pulp. And thinking about the monster inside of her makes The Black Hand loom outside of her eyesight.

Its that place a fraction of a second out of existence, yet it defines life. It is that place between nowhere and everywhere, the darkness that crawls inside of the brightest lights.

"Kier? Kieran? Kieran get out of there! A storm is headed your way!"

She almost doesn't hear her teacher yelling at her.

"Dammit kid, respond! Kieran Lucas respond to me! PLEASE!"

"Please, Kieran," the trapped soul begs, a tear escaping his good eye. His voice is soft like honey, or like the warm breeze that brushes against a golden field of wheat. She peeks at the beauty of his voice. "Please, help me."

She breathes like an Olympic runner suffering from an asthma attack. She looks at the boy from across the universe, defeat bleeding from her heart. Hal faintly shouts at her in the background. It almost sounds like Kilowog is doing the same, but she can't hear it.

She looks into the eyes of the young alien man and faces the ground.

_One minute, forty-seven seconds until impact. _

She throws balled fists into the surface of the planet and shoves herself up. A familiar burn rages inside of her, a fire unquenchable. An eternal spark, born of the darkness in the caves man lived in long ago. A strength unparalleled by any other force in the universe.

_Willpower_.

As the human stands, a familiar green plasma licks her arm and dances in her eyes. Images of her dead brother dances across her heart. Framed pictures of family and friends flash across her brain, and like a wildfire, it burns everything within reach. She braces her scarred palms against the hard edge of the stone imprisoning the poor soul, the wind cursing the day away. She thinks of what Hal Jordan the test pilot and Kilowog the geneticist would do. She can hear Saint Walker coming up from behind and placing a flower in her hair, Anu pulling at her arm, Razer and Aya reaching for a kiss.

_ Fifty-nine seconds until impact._

Thrusting her heart, soul, and everything in between into the effort, Kieran Marie Lucas slowly lifts the boulder from where it sat on top of the civilian. _I am a Green Lantern,_ her heart sings, _I am a Green Lantern!_

A beam of light the color of laughter catapults itself from her plasma-coated hand. The stone launches into the sky like a whale trying to touch the heavens, and like everything else in this damned reality, started to fall back towards them.

And as Adamatoid looks up and sees the sky for the first time in two days - as the tornado-hurricane-storm races closer and closer by the heartbeat - Alpha Lantern Kieran of Earth reaches up with a hand the size of a house to catch and cradle the stone. She tosses it aside like it was a pebble on a shoreline, trying to be skipped across the sky. The human walks slowly to the man-cat, the tornado just behind her. Matoid grabs her outstretched hand, looking deep into the green that radiates from her pupils. Kalisi grips his shoulder like tomorrow wasn't going to come.

And Kieran pulls the young man up to her side, his limp legs intertwined by hers. He grips her, good eye wide with disbelief and pure joy. Kieran takes to the sky, and with the ring echoing seconds left, they make their way to The Center.


	24. Passerby

The first thing Kieran remembered was the kiss that burned her virgin cheek. Within seconds, the green radiating from her arm fell away and -_ like everything else in this damned reality_ - the three start to fall.

It's a fall that lasts about a second, but it's enough for everyone to cling tighter to each other. The green fades from her eyes, making way for the tired amber to blossom. She rubs her eyes with an open hand and regrips her passenger with a sky smile forming across her heart. She blushes as he peeks into her eyes with his one good one. "My Angel Kieran, you act as though you have never been kissed before."

"Uh, yeah, thanks for that." If she didn't have a headache before, her head was BURNING now!

"A flower like you must be a gem in your home."

"Can we talk about this later?"

"Can you promise me that tomorrow will come?"

"Can you promise?" echoes the little black monkey on Gariti'Adamatoid's shoulder. Kieran rolls her eyes and looks over her shoulder at the fading tornado-hurricane. "What was that?"

"The Hand of Death. Have you none on your planet?"

"No, it comes in other ways."

"Like the shift in tectonic movement?"

"Yeah. We call those Earthquakes. Say, I was wondering... what is your planet made of?"

"Mostly molten iron, but what relevance is that? I assume you are curious about what you save. Your tongue it weird to me. Where is your fur, your tail?"

She looks at him with an arched brow. "How old are you?"

He smiles and brushes his cheek against hers. The dirt smears across her, but she doesn't mind. "I am attempting to whelm you, as you appear stressed out. Since you carry me and my Garmadon company, I recommend that you do not be so stressed. Agreed?"

She looks away, cheeks burning crimson. "Deal," she mumbles, The Center coming closer and closer. She looks down at how her legs intertwine with his. "Sorry, I don't mean to-"

"Apology not accepted, you have saved my life. No, do not undo what you have done, I cannot feel my legs." Kieran looks away, shame crawling in her heart. Awkwardly, she rewraps "Oh Gar...-ga...-Gariti, I'm so sorry."

"Why? I live. Life continues." He pecks her on the cheek again, smearing a little bit of puss from his bad eye; he plays life well, but she can see right through that mask of his.

"No, I'm so sorry about your family."

The comment makes the short end of the flight awkward. Kalisi returns to humming to itself, which tears the space between the passengers even further apart. As they arrive at the porch of the magnificent Center, Hal comes storming out with hackles up.

"DAMMIT KIERAN! I TOLD YOU TO STAY CLOSE! I TOLD YOU TO BE SAFE! WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING? WALKER, TAKE THIS GUY AWAY." He throws his arm in the general vicinity of Gariti'Adamatoid with a short nod. Walker, who seems pleased to see the human Alpha still breathing, gladly takes the young man away. His fingers, as furry as they are, intertwine with hers. "Thank you, Guardian Angel," He mumbles softly in her ear, "I will see you again."

"Wait, Saint Walker," Kieran says as the boy is taken over the Blue Lantern's arm. "Be careful with his legs, see what you can do to help him." He nods knowingly and gently takes the young man away. Adamatoid looks at Kieran the entire time, his one good eye gleaming green.

"Well?" Hal is a foot from her face, eyes closed in frustration, hands tightly gripping the circulation out of his arms. "Well what?"

"What the HELL were you thinking?"

"Do I _really_ need to answer that?"

"Yes, you _really_ do! You almost died out there! Why didn't you call one of us for help, or have us go out there instead, or-"

"Oh no, don't you do this to me," she definitely hisses back. The girl mirrors the man with one hand firmly planted on their hip, the other waving in the air. Kalisi watches from Kieran's shoulder in beautiful fascination. "What I did was the f'ing duty you signed me up for. I was out there, saving a few lives. What is wrong with that?"

"Nothing is wrong with that, kid! What is wrong is the fact that-"

"And SECONDLY, I DID call! But no one answered, because you were busy figuring out the little things. I was out there, saving lives, while you cuddled inside by the damn fire."

"Don't you dare talk to me like that, missy," Hal warns, brows furrowed, "You think I don't know what I'm doing? I've been at this for years. I'm an Honor Guard after all! And-"

"And you've saved the galaxy yada-yada-yada. _Big deal!_ In case you haven't noticed, I'm a freaking Alpha Lantern. I do what is _right in accordance to law. I do what the Guardians designed the Green Lantern Corps to bring upon the galaxy: I usher the protection that you fail to bring. I bring the answer to the question you would never dare to ask. I-"_

The shift in Kieran's voice pulled Aya, Razer, and Kilowog over, worry starting to stretch across them all. She doesn't stand in guilt, but rather rage of being questioned. The battered soul had given in, the final wall protecting her heart had fallen to pieces;

The Alpha Protocol has entered her soul.

"Kieran, listen to me," Hal says, interrupting. He reaches out to grab her arm, but she pulls away - by doing so, the green yanks to life like a hound on a chain, and the emerald fire births itself out of defiance. Her eyes, just as cross as his, smoke green energy.

"_And why should I do that?"_

"Because this is not you talking. Breathe kiddo, breath. Think about what you're saying."

She looks down, unable to meet his eyes, as realization flickers across her mind, but the Alpha Protocol's grip is too strong. She glances back at up to meet the man's eyes, a snarl on her lips. _"I am the Alpha Lantern. You will do as I say from now on._"

"Kieran," Aya slowly inches closer. "You're scaring her."

"_Who?!"_ She roars back, throwing her arms in the air - the grip around her heart was slowly melting away. The motion, though, of recklessly emphasizing, made Kieran shoot a beam from her arm, slicing a healthy tree clean in half. The upper half, dazed and trying to fall to the ground, explodes. Kilowog, the sharp one that he is, forms a shield around the lanterns and The Center's entrance. Razer throws himself between his wife and the girl, but is pushed violently aside. "WHO?" The girl demands, screeching blood in her tears, "WHO?"

"Her," Aya whispers, pointing a shaky hand at the creature clinging to Kieran's shoulder. The little yellow eyes of the little black monkey with four little arms meets the girl, and two tiny pools of terror glow from behind the girl's messy hair. The green evaporates like a rose's tear in the desert. "Oh Kalisi. It's okay Kalisi. It's okay." It trembles like a leaf as her senses flood her again. The pounding in her head, the blush of her cheek, and the tremble of an aching body washes over her like a frozen river. She crumbles to the ground again - it's hard to stand when you don't have the strength to live - and starts shaking like the little animal.

Hal kneels beside her. "Kier, I'm so proud of you for overcoming the Alpha, I'm so sorry for yelling at you." He pulls her into a hug, stroking the back of her head like a father to his child, "But right now, we have bigger problems. Another volcano just came to life, and the solar energy is starting to burn the other half of the planet." He grips her face and kisses her dirty forehead. "Kieran, you are the strongest, bravest soul I have ever met. I am so proud to be your teacher, but right now we need to worry about the lives of these people. Can you do that? Can you do that, for me?"

"I don' wanna."

"But..."

She looks up and rubs her eyes. "I need to give Kalisi back to her girl."

He strokes her back and pats her head, kissing her one last time. "Just promise me you're done almost killing yourself."

"Tomorrow doesn't come for everyone," she says defiantly, meeting his eye and turning sharply away. She stands up and mumbles an apology to the gathered lanterns, but it is neither heard nor needed. Gathering what remains of her pride, she stands up and walks through the entrance to The Center. The buzz of the life tickles her exposed ears like a bumblebee to a thorn bush - it is unwelcomed.

Foot after foot, the girl steps over and over again, her body leading her towards two children talking the day away with a few others. Sounds of fear and hope fall from their young lips, and when the small, fat eyes stop on the girl with a four-armed monkey on her shoulder, they all squeal. The red one, in particular, starts to cry and clings to the girl's leg. Some are sobbing within minutes, others run around like Jesus himself had crawled back to life. Even the adults stop fighting, complaining, and praying, to walk over and witness the miracle.

It almost seems like everything will actually be okay.

Then the quaking picks up and Hal's voice booms from around the building. "This is it, everyone! This is the biggest shaker we're gonna get! Get low and hold your loved ones, this _will_ pass!"


	25. Hangover

It's hard, standing after you've been ripped raw of your emotions - any typical person would just lay on the ground and melt into the Earth. It's not that easy, trying to do what you know in your heart is right, when the world around you is falling apart.

It's even more difficult to save a stadium full of people from their imminent doom.

The ground was stolen from Kieran the human's feet. She was thrust to the side, but thanks to Kilowog's 5'am training, she was easily back and up surveying the mess at hand.

_And the idea._

The idea what was lost to her when she became victim of the Alpha Protocol, it was back.

_**It was back!**_

"Kids, are you okay?" She cries out, one arm covering her face to protect her eyes from the scattering debris. An angry mob of yes's swarm her, and she zips away.

She crashes into a civilian, to which she apologizes quickly. She nearly knocks a few others over too, but easily helps them regain themselves.

The shake doesn't stop. Time slows, and tomorrow seems as far away as possible.

A green light, born of the mighty fist of Kilowog himself, sprouts from the Sargent and flies upward and out - with Razer's power boosting him, an umbrella-like shield comes to life to protect the remaining people of the dying planet. Kieran wobbles up to them, the stress of the day suddenly hitting her full-force. Cries of fear echo across every heart in the building, but in moments like these you can't afford to sit and listen to them all.

Aya stands beside Razer, whispering fiercely in his ear; he seems to - if its even possible - throw more power into his ring. His sharp teeth bear down on his pale lips and his eyes winch shut as Aya continues to encourage him to be the hero he is within.

"Where's Hal?" She shouts over the rumble of the crying building. Razer glares at her under the strain and Kilowog shouts back at her. "By the entrance! Why? Alphie, we need you on crowd control-" he looks back over his trembling shoulder and sees her charge off like a drunk duck. He curses her and the entire planet she came from because Earthlings are somewhat... out there... if you know what I mean.

She collides into him, breathless and terrified and hopeful and proud. Saint Walker is crouched over a series of injured civilians, some to which cry if they are capable of doing so. Hal stares the girl down. "What?"

"I have an idea!"

"Can it wait, like, five seconds?!" He shouts back at her before cutting himself off. "Someone, grab that kid! He's too close to that crack in the wall! SOMEONE grab HIM!"

A green hand the color of sea-foam reaches out and cradles the toddler, pulling him back into the corral Hal established for protecting the ill. The little girl's mother wraps her tightly and bends over her, tears streaming down her face. Hal, on the other hand, freaks out. "Five seconds, okay?" Kieran says, pulling the hand back into herself and soothing the madness of her mind. He nods without a word as the quake continues.

For an aftershock, its one hell of an aftershock. Kieran meanders back over to Razer, Kilowog, and Aya, drunk as ever and now woozy from trying to manipulate the green inside of her. Then she stretches, cracks her back, and throws her hand into the sky.

Kilowog breathes for the first time in twelve seconds and his arm falls limply to his side once the pressure taken off his shoulder (literally taken off - he slumps and teeters a little bit). As he regains focus, he has to look on in awe at the girl standing in his place, confidence radiating from her as she projects a thick, firm protective shield over the people in his place. Aya reaches out for the girl's free hand and clasps it while squeezing the life out of Razer's.

And the shaking stops. Tears are caught in throats, hearts drum as if readying themselves to explode. Those who were uninjured cling to one-another and sob more tears, and those who were less lucky are immediately rushed to Saint Walker's corner. Razer, after nodding to Kieran, slowly makes his way over to his fellow Blue Lantern with his loving wife at his side. _What in Grott's name just happened? _

"Gee, kid," Kilowog says, taking the girl so she doesn't keel over, "I didn' know you had the juice for that!" She smiles and wipes the green from her eyes. "I didn't either. I guess you gotta live life on the edge to get the wind under your wings."

"Eh?"

"Nothing." Hal approaches them quickly, eyes curious but heart set on the matter at hand. "What idea did you have, Kier?"

"I, uh," she gasps for breath and slings herself fully into Kilowog's grasp; at first he can't handle it, after also being wiped raw of energy for standing for so long with such a huge shield, but he willingly takes her in his arms. Hal gets lower to look her eye-to-eye then peeks up at Kilowog. "Let's land and talk."

And so they do. Civilians crowd around, begging for answers and enraged for not having left the planet yet. "Our ship isn't designed to hold all of you," Hal says in his affirmative voice, "You'll have to wait a little longer for re-enforcements. They're on their way." He exchanges a look with Kilowog, who nods in confirmation. Kilowog kneels to hold Kieran and himself, and Hal joins them on the rocky surface. "What do you have in mind?"

"This is... all frommmmm... the poles switching, yeah?"

"Yeah, wait, I want Aya to hear this. Aya? AYA! Okay, continue."

"I uh, was thinking that, uh..." she winces as a sharp pain shoots through her at the last breath. "Sorry, that really knocked my socks off."

"What is your idea?" the gentle voice of motherly Aya pulls through Kieran's head. She peeks up from her emotional hangover with a sly grin prying at the corners. "We can't ... stop the earthquakes. We can't ... stop the vol...canoes. We can't ... reverse the poles flipping, but its all from _that_... right?" Hal and Aya nod, understand her so far. "Then what if we... slow down the flipsee-do?"

Hal doesn't even blink. "Put her down Kilowog, with something under her head. She's loosing it."

"No Pap - sorry, I mean, Hal - listen to me." He looks at her and her face burned with embarrassment. "The magnetic poles don't flip easily, its something that takes a long time... the... the solar energy is what pushed the polls to flip fast... faster... like a spring."

"So?"

"Match the polarity of the planet, then reverse it."

Hal shakes his head and looks at Kilowog, who stoops a little to lay the girl down. Aya holds out a hand though, to pause the Sargent. everyone turns to her. "Wait, Kieran has a valid point." She turns around and beckons Razer to come over to them; since he's had his eye on her the entire time, he comes like a pup to its ma.

"The planet is mainly composed of molten iron, right?"

"Yeah," Kilowog and Kieran reply, and she smiles at the man holding her up. Aya turns to her husband and clasps his hand. "Can we single out the magnetic rely of the iron in the planet? if we can, we can find the reverse."

"The reverse magnency? Does that even exist?" Jordan asks, the innocent, uneducated creature called human. "Everything indeed has its opposite," Razer mumbles, stroking his chin. "Finding it would be the difficult part."

"But we _can_ do it," Kilowog butts in. He starts looking around for the geologist and lets go of the girl. Kieran pulls herself into a cross-legged position, begging herself to stay awake for a few more hours. Before leaving, he looks his makeshift crew up and down. "But what does it have to do with anything?"

Aya speaks up before Kieran can form a word on her lips. "The polls are magnetic, Sargent Kilowog, and are the sole reason for the continuing trauma of the planet. By replaying a negative period of the magnetic function, we can - in theory - slow down the speed of the shift, which was increased by the supernova."

"Opposites attract," Hal mumbles, resting a hand on Kieran's slumping shoulder. "But wait. if we shoot out a beam of "opposite magnetism" to the planet," he emphasizes with a waving hand, "won't that speed up the poles flipping places?" Kieran looks up at him, resting her chin on his shoulder. "Think... like magnets. The two poles are magnets. If we give them both the same power from the thing that... that makes them... uh, poles... makes them spin, then we can put the opposite "ends of the magnets" to each other. Like, uh, like when you hold the blue end to the red, and it goes all woovvvvyyyy-wavvvyyy? Same thing."  
"If we can direct it in first to the soft spot created by the supernova-" Razer brightens up, turning to his wife behind the ill girl.

"- then we can slow down the pole-flip motion by a series of hundreds of years as well as re-establish the magnetic shield of the planet against solar energy-"

"-And the people won't have to evacuate the planet-" Razer's voice picks up, a smile slowly spreading across his heart and face.

"- and they'll be safe for another dozen generations!"

"Not to be a down'a, but this is all 'in theory'," Kilowog admits between the cries and shouts of the remaining society. "And if it don't work?"

"I can't think of anything else to do but evacuate... let's at least try to save the planet."

Kilowog, that face... oh that face! What's on his mind as Hal says that? Why does he suddenly turn his big head away, put his ears down, and peek his eyes in the shadows of the past? He turns back to look at them, mouth open to say something, but nothing comes out. Kieran peers up, drunk, sideways eyes burning with compassion and curiosity. Their eyes met, and he looks away, almost ashamed. "Kilo?"

He turns back to her, and she offers him an awkward, drowsy smile - no wonder people like the feeling of being drunk.

_I wonder what an emotional hangover feels like. _

He grins at her and swoops down to rub her hair. With a chuckle, he winks at Hal. "She's gonna be fun tomorrow." She swats his hand away but misses by about a mile; Hal smiles through the tired creases of his face. People will come and go, planets will turn, and hope will burn in the sunset... and just like that, in this crucial hour, the space family shenanigans also proved to never cease.


	26. The Flames

Hal took to the sky and projected some sort of surround-sound stereo system to let people in on what we his motley crew was doing - at least, a part of what they were doing.

"We are going to save you, your neighbors, and your children," He concludes, "But in the meantime, we need your patients." Cheers ring out, but a few angry shouts can be heard; the calls of despairing parents who lost their children ring louder than the others. "Then why have we not departed yet? Why are our neighbors not yet safe? Why do stay here?"

"Our backup is just a little ways away, you'll have to be patient and wait just a little longer. For now, we're gonna try and save your homes."  
"Our homes? Some of us have no one! Some of us lost everything in our homes!" One, a tabby with a small white blaze stretching down to peck at his nose, flattens his ears and easily scales a rock in the center to rise above his people. His arms gesture wildly like his swishing tail.

"Some of us have no one to put in the homes! Some of us have no land to tend to, let alone a home! We have lost almost all of our people, and you want us to stay here, to stay calm?! What we are is a proud people!" He thunders, thrusting his fist into his broad chest where the clothes falls away. "What we are is a people ready and willing to live," He pries, as if trying to lift the spirits of the people slowly surrounding him. Hal, done with this nonsense, swoops down with tight fists and a cool head. "Sir, we are waiting for an easier way to carry you all. would you rather we take some of you away now, and leave the rest?" The tabby hisses, and Kieran staggers over to her teacher - it doesn't matter what planet you are from: hostility is universal.

Hal puts up a hand as his student teeters over. It's easily to get wild over some crazy testosterone, but the difficult part is controlling the testosterone.

Hal turns a little and gently grasps the girl's shoulder. "Kieran, I want you to sit down and hang tight. We're gonna get this show on the road soon, and I want you to try and be here for it."

"Bu' I'm'a here...!"

"Kier, will you please sit down?" Jordan's aggressive tone makes the girl's green fire flare up - _how dare he, judge my stance and capability of standing? Who is this man to tell me what to do?_

She sighs and turns around to stumble away, but some hissing and growling makes her stop; the tabby flicks his thin tale in arrogance. "We do not require these fools, we are a strong people! What good have they done for us, for our children? They arrived late and they keep us here! Are they trying to kill us?" He stomps over to Kieran and grabs her by the shoulder, digging deep into the softness of her skin and spinning her around.

The tabby is taller than her. He is long and thin, kinda like a dirty toothpick. Just as bad smelling, too. His eyes flicker dangerously as he stands above her, Hal looms behind him and just out of Kieran's blurry vision. Jordan puts a hand on the tabby's shoulder as others close in around them, and as the simpleton's ears press down, Hal throws him to the ground. The tabby hisses and scratches at the dominant force, and Hal puts a green jacket on the man going mad. Saint Walker makes his way over the collecting crowd and lands beside the Alpha lantern. The mushroom man looks exhausted. "Are you alright?" He asks, taking his four-fingered hand and rolling it over her shoulder. She pulls away - remarkably quick for someone on a hangover - and steps back, tripping a little before Hal catches her. "I-i-i-i-i..." Hal looks her up and down as well after putting a muffler over the tabby. A little blood oozes from her shoulder, but its nothing compared to the people trying to get by with missing limbs. Saint Walker kneels beside the squirming soul and tends to his mental breakdown.

Unfortunately, the mind is not as easy to aid; mental disorders are not something to be ashamed of, but with this fellow they were never addressed.

"He is crippled," muses a light blue on crutches, slowly hobbling his way through the crowd. His face is damp with salty tears, but he gets down to aid the fallen girl. He looks squarely at Hal. "Do not mind him, he has been unwell for some time."

"K, I can get him-" Hal starts before looking around at the murmuring crowd, "-but it's the way these guys followed up with him so quickly. Do you all really see us this way?"

The light blue has nothing to say. He strokes the girl up and down, reassuringly and calm. He shuffles on his crutch and tries to pull away the girl's messy curls. "Sir," he says, looking back at Hal with two bright eyes, "I am willing to tend to your daughter."

"She's not my-" He stops and sighs, scratching his back and face palming himself. the green light on his hand glows stronger and beeps at him frantically, forcing him to trust the stranger with his padawan. "Alright, but keep her with us, okay? She needs to rest a little." Hal picks up his feet and takes to the sky, releasing the tabby so Saint Walker to coax him back into coexistence with life. "Wake her when the show starts, I'm going to need her help."

"I don' need... help-" she gurgles, trying to sit up. She falls forward onto the blue furred chest, almost taking him down with his bad leg. The gentle voice purrs calmly in her ear. "Guardian Kieran, you require rest. You are unwell. Please, let me aid you."

Saint Walker stands up, just out of her blurry vision. "Gariti, I will bring her back to our sick bay. If will relieve the stress of your leg."

"My apologies good Saint Walker," he begins, pulling the human up and pulling her waist into his, "but I request that I aid my friend."

Saint Walker looks at the two and almost smiles. "Of course," he mummers with a slight bow - he takes his madman in a cocoon and flies over the cries of the collecting crowd.

Apparently in the last few hours, more people have found their way into The Center. Not a bad thing when you're trying to help everyone live... but not very good if you're claustrophobic or crippled with a funny walk. The funny-looking catman helps the girl across The Center and into the corner Saint Walker established as a medical bay; a collection of prayers sing across their little corner of the universe and tangos in the atmosphere with the sounds of coughing, crying, and blood-gurgling. Gariti joins in the humming as he carefully half-drags the girl across and putting her in a soft collection of leaves. By now, she's well blacked out. Evenso, she feels the tingle of whiskers against her face. "I will help you as you helped me," he promises, sitting beside her and massaging his leg. "I will awaken you when the hour falls. By the gods below, all will be well my angel."

The throbbing of a beaten and bruised head wakes her up, and she growls a curse at the universe. The human rubs her head, wondering if it was Wednesday or Thursday, because the chemistry exam was on Thursday. Then she thinks that she slept through her alarm clock.

And Kieran the human bolts up.

A light sweat covers her body from the humidity of sharing one roof with a few thousand. She shutters as the sound falls back into her ears - the cries, the shouts, the gentle prayers - and rubs the back of her head where some leaves had kept her from the jagged edge of hard-cut masonry.

A blue tail swishes near her face, light stripes racing along the fine detail. It almost looks like embodiment or tattoos. However, the warm face wasn't focused on the girl - it was directed at the burning soul beside her.

Forget the humidity - it was hot in here because the two people beside her were partly on fire.

She springs up and stumbles a little before being shoved aside by curious onlookers and worried family members. The blue tail gently lies on her chest and curls around her figure before pressing her gently down again. "Rest, Guardian," the voice hums, "We still have time."

"Why are they on fire?! What is going on?"

"Sister sit down," Saint Walker commands as he struts up and over the two on the ground beside her. Taking a second look around, the human notices that Razer is the one keeping the crowd back, as well as a few cat-people at his side. One is missing an arm. Aya flies just above, overlooking the distressed horde and massaging her growing body. She casts a glance down and offers Kieran a weary smile, to which she tries to return. A dark brown cat - female, most likely - sits down next to the blue and starts prodding at the cringing mess on the ground. The Alpha props herself on her elbows and peeks over the blue tom's shoulder as Saint Walker straddles one of the crying souls. Wait a second, where were the flames?

"Why are they on fire?" She tries again, trying to grab the swaying tail. A pair of keen eyes turn to face her as two furry paws stretch up to its face to put on some sort of mask. "What fire?"

Silence.

"THAT fire woman! These two are on fire!"

The blue tom turns back around and shuffles closer to her as Saint Walker glances in her direction. The tom strokes her arm back and forth. "Guardian, there is no fire here."

"What are you talking about? They are on fire, right there! Get them water!"

Aya comes down from above and eases down next to the girl. Razer, too, now looks curiously at the girl. Hal and Kilowog are nowhere to be seen. "Kieran, are you alright?"

"They are on FIRE! Why aren't you getting them water?!"

"Kieran, I need you to breath. Good, now breath again. Rest and breath, that is right, just breathe."

"Bu-"

"Kieran, I do not wish to alarm you, but _there is no fire. _Just rest."

_What the hell?_

"What the hell do you mean? I see-" She props herself back up, the rush of blood drowning her frail ears. And see sees the wiggling masses

and there is no fire.

Kieran points at them as Aya gently tries to press the girl back down. "-I mean, I saw fire! I saw them on fire! What's going on? Where are we? How long have I been out?"

Aya's sea-foam skin takes over the girl's vision. She strokes the girl's face and brushes some of the dirt away from her nose. "Are you breathing?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Do you know the answers to your questions?"

Pause.

"Some of them." she admits, rubbing her brow and brushing at some curls. "But how long have I been out for? What's wrong with those people?"

"You have been sleeping for almost forty minutes, angel," The blue speaks up; if you think Aya looked worried, he looks ready to pass out from the day's stress and fear of the girl turning into a tree. But as Kieran looks back over to see Saint Walker rise from the still bodies, he looks away. The crowd slowly falls silent and turns away. The dark brown's tail stops and her ears drop. "What happened?" Kieran musters, her voice quivering, "Where did the fire go? What's wrong with these two?!"

She sees how one of them is grey, the other a beautiful array of tourtishell colors. _They couldn't have been that old - twenty-ish, maybe? Do aliens even age like humans?_

The blue looks away, and the green eyes that pulled the human from the Alpha protocol looks down at her. His strong chin quivers as well as his ears fall to the side; she sees no anger or frustration in his eyes, just... pain.

Razer stops since the crowd had settled down. He retreats to his wife's side and holds her, stroking her and kissing her. She doesn't react at first before falling into her husband with hungry hands. They cling to his back, nails digging into the soft clothing of the warrior Blue Lantern.

"Kieran," the blue, a survivor named Adamatoid, peeks into her heart, "are you well?" he whispers.

"Are they well?" she begs, prying herself from the luxury of his two open eyes and turning back to the stillness. _I guess Saint Walker was able to help him out after all. _

"What do you think." replies a cold, hostile voice from an empty soul. The tall body turns away, hands in blood and patience wearing thin. He will never be out of hope _- oh no, not him, never him - _and the long four fingers curl around his blue ring. The weird mushroom man turns to the girl, eyes reflecting nothing but defeat. "What do you think, sister?" He whispers. And Saint Walker turns away. The crowd parts like a divine sea being torn in half.

And the battle rages on.


	27. Doestn't it Feel Nice?

"Your fellow Lanterns are preparing for their final act against our planet," Gariti'Adamatoid says, helping the girl into a sitting position. He reaches for a bowl not too far away and offers the girl water as her human eyes fall away from the couple being carried away. Many, many tears fall around them. Adamatoid seems to understand the value of changing the subject and swishes the bowl around in front of the Alpha's face.

The thirst was unbelievable, but she wasn't the thirstiest one in the building. Kieran notices the tired eyes of Kalisi and her owner looking on. She can't talk about what just happened (partly because she doesn't know what just happened) and her head hurt like no other. She looks back at Adamatoid. " 'Help me up?" He nods, and using one another, they prop themselves up. Gariti clutches to his crutch as Lucas clings to his arm. She reaches back down for the bowl and the two walk slowly over to the children. The wild drumming of a lopsided heartbeat races away in the girl, but seeing the gleam return to the children muffles out the madness.

She reaches out to the children - four of them, total (five if you count the six-limbed teacup monkey) - with a smile and a shaky hand. "Promise me you guys will share?" They all nod like madmen, and Kieran gives the closest, one with a torn ear, the bowl. He sips and passes it to his sister, then she to her little brother, then him to his friend, and the friend on to another. The bowl slips out of view as words of thanks come up to stroke the girl's arm. She looks curiously at Adamatoid, the two hooked to each other like a gentleman escorting a fair maiden to the opera. "I thought we had water for you guys."

"The water supply is dwindling with the arrival of more of our people. We will make do with what we can, won't we?" He turns to the children as he speaks to his human girl, a dangerous smile flickering across his fat, cat-like face. The children chime about how they'll do everything with "what we make do" and Gariti looks on proudly. Releasing the human on his arm, he reaches for the darkest child, warmly tucked away in a rich black coat of fur decorated with dust and dirt. Unlike most of its kind, the hair is long and hides the young face. It giggles somewhere from inside of the mess as Gariti pulls him to his shoulder, propping the child up like a king on a throne. "And how will we do, with what we do?" He teases the child, looking at him with a killer smile.

The child reaches out and pulls the blue tom's face closer with two fat paws - they pull the face closer until the noses touch. "With hope."

"And?"

"Strength."

"Of?"

"Love!" The little black shadow cries out, throwing a fist in the air. The others echo the cry, and a few young adults smile and thrust their hands up.

Wait, its not a fist. Kieran sees the joy radiating from them all, and a weird sense of familiarity washes over her pounding head. Gariti acts like he loves these kids... did he have a little sibling? Is he, or was he, a father?

Fanloid, Kalisi's owner, pulls at Kieran, bringing her back into existence. "Will you join us?

"Huh? What are you talking about, Fanloid?"

She shrieks in joy. "The Green Lantern knows my name!" She giggles, showing off to her friends. The human huffs and tickles the teacup monkey on the child's shoulder. "Of course I do. Little Kalisi drove me bananas talking about you all the way back." The human looks up and around; The Center indeed looked smaller, probably from having it filled to the max. The sounds swarm around like a mad cloud, but the girl overlooks them all to make eye contact with Hal Jordan. He nods at her, and she returns the favor before being pulled back down to the little girl's eye level. "What is the hand thing, Fanloid?" The girl smiles, radiating joy in this dark hour. "It is the symbol of Retan's tomorrow."

"Retan is the Greater God from Below." Adamatoid informs the human, to which she brushes her fingers up his arm in thanks. "And what happens in Re-tan's tomorrow?"

"We do not know, silly Guardian. Tomorrow comes when it comes. Until then, we welcome the warmth of possibility with our hands to the sun. Like this."

And what do you know - she pulls apart two fingers to make a classic peace sign. The girls smile.

_Of course, light years away from home, and the people are hippies from the seventies. Of course. _

The human reaches hesitantly forward before giggling and being taken hostage by two fat paws; with gentle fingers clasping her face, she is pulled through the rest of the space dividing them, her and the little cat-girl. Their noses touch, the coldness shoots through her as their eyes dance in the fading light of the dying sun. The planet quivers under their feet, and unlike before, the people remain somewhat calm. "Thank you," she says to the girl, rubbing her between the ears. She then reaches back to her escort and_ - oh, what the hell -_ kisses him on the cheek. It was nice to see him blush for a change. "Take care of the kids, okay?"

He hesitates. "I promise."

"And be okay, okay?"

"You shall see me again, my Guardian Angel." he reassures.

Kieran makes her way up to Hal's side, who sweeps his eyes over the vast ocean of fur. "How do you feel?"

"Tired, beaten-up, and like I'm eighty years old. How are you?"

"Better now that I see you're up," he says warm as ever as he drapes an arm across her shoulders. The girl gets right back to business though. "Hal, how close are we to trying the... uh, thing?"

"We've got the reverse polarity with us now, Razer just joined Kilowog in rigging up the Moc Eight to project it." She nods more to herself than anyone else. "And the back up?"

Hal shuffles and pulls his arm back. Proud and human, Hal Jordan never fails to figure out how to handle the universe; unfortunately, the universe isn't always playing out in the human's favor.

"Back up is a ways back."

"How much of a ways? I thought they'd be here by now."

"We can't mention it to the people." He says quietly, looking out ahead. Kieran traces his eyes to the wall where a large crack was beginning to develop. Just outside of a bare window, you can see a magnificent volcano clouding up the atmosphere about ten miles away.

"What's going on, pops?"

"The atmosphere has shifted too much for shuttles to come in. The supernova also ruptured another planet clean in half. The Guardians decided that a series of planets that are a solar system away need a shield instead."

"But what about these people?" Kieran doesn't understand his words... is it because she doesn't know the full length of this job, or because she doesn't want to know the truth behind his words?

"We're assigned the duty of pulling out as many as we can."

"But we can't grab them all."

"We aren't supposed to. I have been given direct orders to pull out as many as possible, to leave the rest, and take the people to a sister solar system."

The silence between them thickens. "You can't be serious," Kieran finally musters, her head shaking in disbelief. Hal sighs. "The needs of the many out weighs the needs of the few, Kier. What they did is logical."

"But it's not right!"  
"Kid, I've been at this for years now - you think I don't know how wrong that sounds?!" He pulls at his face and drags his hands down into fists at his sides. "Sorry, I don't mean to snap at you, but right now we're running out of options."

"How long does the planet have left?" _She's quick_, Hal muses. He scratches at his head. "Kilowog's new geologist friend says a few hours until the magnetic poles tear the place clean in half."

"So at this point, all we can do is this polarity thing."

"Yeah."

Kieran shuffles around and brushes back her curls. "Could we pick up The Center? Carry it away?"

"It would take a lot more umph for that to work, padawan."

"Where could we get more umph then?"

"Kid, for now I just want to focus on us and the poles."

"But if it doesn't work?" Hal turns on his student. "Kier, this was your idea. you don't think it'll work?"

"It might, but it might not. Hal, we need to think about the people-"

"No, what we need to think about-" He turns his attention back to the crack in the wall; it touches the bottom of the building now, "-is saving the people."

"Hal, what if this-"  
"It will work."

"But what if-"

"It will work."

"And if it doesn't! What will we do if this plan fails? We need a net to catch acrobats Hal... everyone needs a plan that they can fall back on."

"No, not everyone." Where Kieran thinks she saw arrogance was a spark of defiance. Hal gently places both hands on her shoulders, his expression hopeful and his smile killer. "Kiddo, you need to know a few things about this job. One is that I'm never wrong."

"Never?"

"Two - a leap of faith is a risk, but risks are worth taking. I'm not about to leave some of these people behind." He arches a brow, expecting a retort from the girl, but she just stares blankly back at him. "And three - have a little faith! Come on, I'm in Honor Guard for a reason. What are you looking at?" He traces his eyes to something right over his shoulder, and Kieran simply stares on, mouth a-gap.

Another volcano has ruptured in the distance where the lake was swaying like nuts. The two forces of nature collide, and a thunderstorm follows the two quickly. Some of the cat-people below the there floating feet gasp and point, some shouts ringing above others.

"This is a battle on too many fronts, Hal." Kieran practically whispers. "This is madness."

"This is life," he practically growled back, drifting closer to see it in finer details. The rage of nature cries out, stinging their innocent ears. "This is life."

"Even if we do somehow manage to save this rock in space-"

"Jeezus have some respect kiddo. This is their Earth."

The emanate gush of warm air sails through the sky and brushes against the girl's face. her hair wipes out and around, and for a moment she almost feels like she's in the back of Jared's convertible. She closes her eyes to bask in the simplicity of the moment.

_What do you think, sis? Not bad for 4000 bucks!_

_I think we could do without, Marbles._

_Really? Do you really think so? The buses are hard enough to manage into life-_

_But people have survived off buses before - we can do the same._

_Ugggg, stop trying to be responsible, feel the wind! Ahhh, doesn't summer feel nice?_

_Marb, what about gas money?_

_What about shutting up?_

_What about saving up for college?_

_What about taking life and enjoying the moment?! _

_Well, someone has to be responsible..._

_Do you want to walk home? It sounds like you want to walk home._

"Kieran?" The girl sighs and rubs her arm, Hal trying to pull her back into the present.

_I wanted you to be happy. I wanted you to be safe, Marbles. I wanted you to see tomorrow._

She opens her eyes. "How can I help?"

* * *

I apologize for the absence of updates; I am now home after spending a month traveling Europe and have plenty more chapters ready.

As always, comments, questions, and complaints are welcome 3


	28. In Sync

A man is most likely the most obscure creature in the universe; it may laugh at the face of fear or cry in moments of joy. And, due to such abnormal behavior, it is remarkably difficult to understand what a person is feeling. Hal Jordan, protector of Earth and friend of all, is no different. Turns out that the mask isn't needed to hide what someone's feeling – you just need the confidence to hide yourself in your own skin.

"We've got a shield up, but I don't know how long it'll last. Hurry it up as much as possible without getting too risky up there, okay?!"

"Gotcha. We'r doing the best we can."

"Good. Kier, listen to me." He grips her by the shoulders, eyes darting back and forth across her face – maybe it would mean something to her if she could actually see his eyes or the worry in them.

Is it fair to say worry? No, I don't think so. I'd say absolute fear, and if not fear, then guilt; the girl was out there partly due to him. Her death would weight his shoulders down for the rest of his life.

"Kier," his voice cracks for the briefest of seconds and the command of Hal Jordan comes out. "Kieran, you just listen to my voice, alright? Hang on to that for me."

" 'm trying Hal," she whispers green gushing from her pupils. The coil of emerald fire tucked away behind her heart beats rapidly, flashing like an ambulance getting to an emergency too late.

Hal strokes her shoulder. "Alright, just stay with me…. Uh, how do you feel?"

"L-l-l-like I'm gonna explode."

"I wont let that happen."

"You can't control everything Hal." She trembles slightly as her mouth forms the words.

"I can't, not here. You can. You must!" Jordan starts looking around, head whipping back and forth to scan the area for life. The feline people were doing hat they could to keep their loved ones close, but their cries – as heart wrenching as they are – are drowned out by the tremors of the planet.

Kieran's legs begin to shake, and her knees buckle at the pressure bearing down. Shaking, infinite shaking, rolls outside the gargantuan windows. Two volcanoes scream their fury, a Hand of Death is getting pulled together into existence. The rage of the natural world, the heat collect, and beats their sharp arms against the human's bubble, the valor of inferno seeping into her fingernails. The wind rips a lonely Uan tree from its place on Sabilia; the remaining roots curl around the blank nothingness, crying out for its life source.

A tree cannot stand without its roots just as roots shrivel and die in the absence of an offspring of the light. She sees all this – feels all of this – plaguing her mortal body with roaring pain. Kieran's eyes burn green and tears of fear collect at the crevice of her sparking green flame.

Finally, she gives in a little. "I'm scared Hal. I don't think –"

"Hush. Focus on all the good you're doing. Think about all the lives you're saving."

"But I can't –"

"You can! You are and you will!"

Her arm wabbles, and the arm bracing the one thrust into the sky trembles like a kicked kitten.

"Hal –"

"Breathe, Kiddo."

"-Hal, I can't."

"Kieran Lucas, you are working miracles right now. we need you to keep this miracle working. Do you hear me? another minute kiddo, another minute – "

His voice fades from her ears though. She cannot differentiate between the flames screaming in her arm or the storm crying outside, let alone the only other human in the solar system.

Kieran's heartbeat thunders, beating against her mortal chest as if trying to escape from a prison, a prison of passion and opportunity.

_Do. It._

_You know you want to._

_…. I do…._

_You bitch! Do it already!_

I stand over the scum who killed Jared. I stand with a knife in one hand, the other red with my guilt and his blood. My heart thunders against my ribs; if I don't scream I might explode. Sirens cry in the background, but I don't care._ This is my chance._

_Where's Marbles, Kir?  
He's gone, Mels. He's gone._

_Where to? Can I go with him?_

Images of little Melanie and her innocent eyes flash across my mind as I stand over the killer. She stands in the doorway with her stuffed elephant in one hand, the other wiping tired tears from her eyes. I can't hear the planet anymore – only the screams of my parents.

_Can I go with him?_

_Maybe one day Mels._

_Today?_

_Tomorrow?_

_When you're older…_

_Three days from now?_

_No._

My hand trembles and I stare at Spencer Garcia between tears. My hand trembles as I try to save these felines on a planet across the galaxy. I have tears. I have fear.

* * *

And like that night years ago, Kieran fails her promise. She gives up.

In sync with memories of the past, Kieran lowers her arm.

* * *

Hal screams an order. He screams again. Blue appears and green fades away, but the girl is only aware of one thing – falling.

She falls into the emptiness of a code of conduct, tumbling, rolling down into the darkness of a sea of green.

_An Alpha Lantern does not tolerate defeat or weakness. Innocence cannot die by the hailed hands of an Alpha Lantern._

S.h.i.t. Leave. Me. Alone. I want to sleep.

_Unacceptable. _

* * *

The blue rises, becoming more vivid in the darkness. She shutters and blinks, no longer in control of her body; even her frantic heartbeat seems foreign as it drifts away.

The blue takes the shape of a man, a man from Frontier Space. A young man, a hard-edged man, a lover and a father… a brother to the blue light. It is now when she can finally hear Jordan's voice, but it is distant and from another day.

_… I know a guy…_

_Will I be home in time? Will I get to…_

_…Once we get pass his wife… he's been in a tough situation like this before…_

"…All will be well," he whispers in the ear that is not hers to control. "But you need to make it well. Stand up child, stand!"

_…When will tomorrow come? _Her young, innocent eyes fill with tears.

She never really got to know him. I feel bad about it.

_Where is he, Sissy? Marbles promised to read to me._

I can feel Razer's rough hands prop me up, but its not my body he holds. I can hear Kilowog's lessons, Hal's stories, Aya's smile as she strolls through the forest. Anu's grin, so defiantly blissful, as he lunges with his sword at a lead. The creature hisses and leaps, the forest following as it lies up and above the barren tree tops.

_Where'd Marbles go?_

_He's in tomorrow Mels, go to sleep._

_He's in tomorrow_… the frantic faces of feline humans flash across my mind. I can see with eyes that aren't mine. The black flames that rose from the dying souls.

_Unacceptable_.

Leave. Me. alone. Let me die. I want to sleep with Jared.

The voice of the ring seems to muse over my requires. It pauses, the vacant sound of my heartbeat grows a little louder than a whisper.

_Tomorrow_.

The face of a blue-ish feline settles in my eyes, the eyes that are not mine.

_Tomorrow. Retan's tomorrow._

_What is Retan?... _

_Tomorrow is what you make of it_… the sound that is not there freezes. Chills settle in my mind as the green fire rises from within. Nothing is palpable but the fire.

A fire from a fallen soldier. A fire now in the fingers of a human.

A human whose strings are pulled too and fro by a ring.

A Green Lantern ring. An Alpha Lantern ring.

_You have the strength to overcome the fear of others. You are the gateway to tomorrow for these people. Provide the power for them. Feel their hope. _

The blue feline fades away and returns to the shape of a Volkregian. His worried eyes sparkle. I can see stones falling around us, cataclysms roar.

I blink.

_Tomorrow. Discover your willpower today to help people tomorrow_.

And if I don't want to?

A pause. Razer's brow wrinkles in despair.

_Unacceptable_.


End file.
